Water desalination using freeze crystallization and acoustic pressure shock waves

ABSTRACT

A method of desalinating water through application of acoustic pressure shock waves to a slush to separate ice crystals from brine and recovering desalinated water from the separated ice crystals.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 15/230,765filed Aug. 8, 2016, which claims the benefit of priority of U.S.provisional application No. 62/202,455 filed Aug. 7, 2015, all of whichare incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In this invention are presented methods and device embodiments that useacoustic pressure shock wave technology in water/fluid treatmentprocesses such as turbidity and total suspended solid reduction,membrane filtration, algae removal, disinfection processes, watersoftening procedures, separation of radioactive heavy water from normalwater, sludge dewatering and desalination of salted water/fluids,including brine that has a high concentration of salt in water/fluid.

Although water exists in abundance on Earth, it is increasinglyunreliable, insufficient and declining in quality. The main sources ofdrinking water are lakes, reservoirs, canal, ground water, sea water,rain water, etc. In the modern era, water is becoming a strategicresource and harvesting the water suitable for the needs of variousindustries such as petro-chemical industry, steel industry, oil and gas,power generation, municipal supply, mining, chemical industry, andconsumer goods requires the introduction of new technologies that makesmore efficient the use of water and waste water cleaning forre-use/recycling. The quality of water is determined by many factorssuch as physical, chemical or biological parameters and its final use(for drinking or for industrial processes)

For example the drinking water must be subjected to a treatment process,to achieve the standard quality for drinking purpose. General treatmentof drinking water is consisting of several stages to remove or reducesuspended, dissolved solids and microbial pollutants. Cleaning of usedwater and recycling represents the most important approach that canconserve the water and improve the overall efficiency of using water inany industrial/household processes associated with modern human society.

An important parameter for the drinking water quality is calledturbidity, which is a measure of the degree water loses its transparencydue to the presence of suspended particulates (the murkier the water,the higher the turbidity). Turbidity is caused by suspended substancesor dissolved substances such as clay, silt, oil, finely dividedinorganic and organic matter, soluble colored organic compounds,plankton and other microscopic organisms. Conventional methods fordecreasing turbidity and reduction of total suspended solids/pollutantsin water are coagulation/flocculation (performed in special large tankscalled clarifiers or settlers or weir tanks), rapid/slow filtration,microfiltration (0.1-10 micrometer pore size), nanofiltration (2-100nanometer pore size), ultrafiltration (0.5-2 nanometer pore size),electrodialysis, and reverse osmosis (<0.5 nanometer pore size).

Membrane technologies are now widely accepted as suitable processes forsolids' separation from liquids, due to their high removal capacity andability to meet multiple liquid/water quality objectives. Someadvantages of this technology are effectiveness, easness to beautomated, compact, removing pathogens, requiring less coagulatingagents and disinfectors, simpler to maintain and capable of producinghigh-quality drinking water for human consumption. In addition to theseadvantages, membrane filtrations have some operation problems such asfouling and concentration polarization. The fouling can be a processwhere solute or particles such as clays, flocs (colloidal fouling),bacteria, fungi (biological fouling), oils, polyelectrolytes, humics(organic fouling) and mineral precipitates (scaling) deposit onto amembrane's surface or into membrane's pores that degrade the membrane'sperformance due to blocking of the membrane's pores. The fouling issuecan be prevented or reduced by using acoustic pressure shock waves.

Industrial processes (petro-chemical, steel, chemical, etc.), oil/gasrecovery, mining, and power generation use huge amounts of water thatgenerate the so-called produced water. Produced water has a complexcomposition, but its constituents can be broadly classified into organicand inorganic compounds including dissolved and dispersed oils, grease,heavy metals, radio nuclides, organic matter, treating chemicals,formation solids, salts, dissolved gases, scale products, waxes, andmicro-organisms.

The general objectives for operators treating produced water are:de-oiling (removal of dispersed oil and grease), desalination, removalof suspended particles and sand, removal of soluble organics, removal ofdissolved gases, removal of naturally occurring radioactive materials,disinfection and softening (to remove excess water hardness). Forremoval of suspended particles, sand, soluble organics, dissolved gases,and radioactive materials usually there are used evaporation ponds, gasflotation systems, media filtration (sand, gravel, anthracite, walnutshell and others), ion exchange technology and chemical oxidationsystems that use ozone, peroxide, permanganate, oxygen and chlorine.

Algae that live in water are a large and diverse group of simpleorganisms, ranging from unicellular to multicellular forms. Bloomconcentrations of algae cause an increase in coagulant demand andtreatability, taste and odor issues, filter blocking and toxin releasein water treatment facilities. There are various strategies to controland remove algae from water such as dissolved air flotation, covering ofbasins and filters, advanced oxidation processes, ozonation,coagulation/flocculation by copper sulphate and potassium permanganate,bubble curtains, pulsed sludge blanket clarification, aeration,pre-oxidation using chlorine, ozoflotation, catalytic processes, barleystraw, etc.

Water disinfection process is fundamental to remove microorganisms, andcan be done by different methods such as use of ultraviolet, ozone andchemical substances (chlorine, hypochlorite, chloramines, chlorinedioxide, bromine).

Water hardness is known as existence of bivalent and trivalent cationssuch as calcium (Ca2+), magnesium (Mg2+), and in lower traces, aluminum(Al2+, Al3+) and iron (Fe2+, Fe3+). Water hardness causes some problemssuch as scale formation in pipes and cooling towers, reaction by soapand hard foam formation and decreased heat exchange capacity andmembrane clogging. Conventional methods for hardness removal (also knownas water softening process) are lime-soda process, ion exchange,electro-coagulation, electro-dialysis, reverse osmosis andnano-filtration.

In nuclear plants that use natural uranium as fuel, the reactors arefunctioning on heavy water, which is a form of water that contains alarger than normal amount of hydrogen isotope, deuterium. The heavywater used as a coolant for the nuclear reactors contains tritium(tritiated water) that can make it radioactive and hazardous for livingorganisms and environment. For this reason, nuclear power plants storethe mixture of light water with tritiated water in drums for 10 timesthe half time for tritium (120 years) or this mixture is dispersed intoenvironment in small quantities to prevent ecological disasters. Analternate method to separate heavy water (tritiated water) from lightwater (normal water) that is both economically and feasible is needed.In the patent application US 2005/0279129, different methods arepresented (filtration, chemical, centrifugal, electromigrational andcatalytic) that are currently used to separate heavy water (tritiatedwater) from light water. These methods have high complexity and areinefficient, expensive and can generate more contaminated materials(filters, membranes, etc.) that are contaminated and require storage ordischarging problems as for the original water mixture. A combination ofthe principle presented in patent application US 2005/0279129 (loweringthe temperature of the mixture to the melting point of the heavy water)combined with acoustic pressure shock waves, can offer an efficientmethod to accomplish an economic and feasible solution.

The sludge is a semi-solid slurry and can be produced from wastewatertreatment processes or as a settled suspension obtained fromconventional drinking water treatment and numerous other industrialprocesses. The term is also sometimes used as a generic term for solidsseparated from suspension in a liquid. Most producers pay for sludgedisposal by weight, and water is heavy. Therefore, if the water isremoved as much as possible, then the sludge is lighter and thus costsless to dispose it. Inorganic (lime and ferric salt) or organic(polymers) conditioners can be used in order to improve the solidcontent of waste sludge. Oily sludge frequently generated by oilproduction or processing sites, contains different concentrations ofwaste oil (40%-60%), wastewater (30%-90%) and mineral particles(5%-40%). The oil can be in its continuous phase although the water isin a high percentage in form of oil droplets absorbed onto solidparticles, creating a protective layer and in the presence ofsurfactants forms emulsions, which creates difficulties in the wastetreatment processes and subsequently in the dewatering process. The mostcommon way to dewater sludge is to physically squeeze the water out ofthe sludge via pressure filtration dewatering, belt press dewateringfiltration, air sludge drying processes, sludge dewateringcentrifugation and vacuum filtration. In addition, a sludge drier can beutilized at the end of the process. Driers are oven like equipment thatactually bake out the water. To improve of the process efficiency andreduce costs, other non-conventional approaches can be used such asacoustic pressure shock wave technology.

The water desalination technologies currently used are the reversedosmosis, multi stage flash, multiple effect distillation, vaporcompression distillation and electro dialysis reversal. Thesetechnologies are energy intensive, which significantly increases thecost of produced desalinated water.

Reversed osmosis (RO) is a membrane separation process that recoverswater from a saline solution pressurized to a point greater than theosmotic pressure of saline solution. In essence, membrane filters outsalt ions from pressurized solution, allowing only water to pass. ROpost-treatment includes removal of dissolved gasses (CO2) and pHstabilization via Ca or Na salts addition. It is interesting to notethat RO works effectively only for low concentrated brine solutions, dueto high concentrates that produce rapid scaling of RO membrane. Thefouling/scaling of RO membranes significantly increases the operationcost. The membrane exchange represents the most of the cost necessary tooperate a RO desalination facility therefore it limits the RO use infiltrating water from high concentrated brines produced by oil industry,mining or other industrial processes.

Thermal technologies—are employed in regions where the cost of energy isrelatively low. Multi stage flash (MSF) distillation units are oftencoupled with steam or gas turbine power plants for better utilization offuel energy. Steam produced at high temperature and pressure by fuel isexpanded through turbine to produce electricity. The low to moderatetemperature and pressure steam exiting the turbine is used to drive thedesalination process. Multi effect distillation (MED) process involvesapplication of sufficient energy that converts saline water to steam,which is condensed and recovered as pure water. To increase performance,each stage is run at a successively lower pressure. Even so, the energyconsumption is significant and can be prohibitive in many cases.

Vapor compression distillation (VCD) uses vapor generated in evaporationchamber, compressed thermally or mechanically. The heat of condensationis returned to the evaporator and utilized as a heat source. Vaporcompression processes are particularly useful for small to mediuminstallations. However, VCD require energy intensive consumption toachieve desalination—a significant drawback.

Electrodialysis reversal (EDR) involves the separation of dissolved ionsfrom water through ion exchange membranes. A series of ion exchangemembranes is used, containing electrically charged functional sitesarranged in an alternating mode between the anode and the cathode, toremove charge substances from the feed salty water. If the membrane ispositively charged, only anions are allowed to pass through it.Similarly, negatively charged membranes allow only cations to passthrough them. EDR uses periodic reversal of polarity to optimize itsoperation. The membranes of EDR units are subject to fouling, and thussome pretreatment of the feed water is usually necessary.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Acoustic pressure shock waves were studied from the beginning of the20th century for military, medical and civilian applications. Towardsthe middle of the century, use of acoustic pressure shock waves innon-destructive applications was focused on medical field applications,in order to destroy kidney stones from outside the body (extracorporealtreatment). These new devices were invented in Germany and calledlithotripters. The first lithotripters used the electrohydraulicprinciple to produce acoustic pressure shock waves, based on highvoltage discharge in between two electrodes submerged in a fluid. A highvoltage discharge vaporizes the fluid and produces a plasma bubble thatgrows very fast and collapses violently, producing an acoustic pressureshock wave that is focused via a reflector towards the desired area. Thetransformation of high voltage electric energy into kinetic energy ofacoustic pressure shock waves is efficient and proved beneficial fordifferent medical fields such as urology, orthopedics, wound care, etc.After development and commercialization of electrohydrauliclithotripters, new methods of producing acoustic pressure shock waveswere researched and implemented based on electromagnetic orpiezoelectric principles.

The acoustic pressure shock waves produced by the proposed embodimentswill have a compressive phase (produces high compressive pressures) anda tensile phase (produces cavitation bubbles that collapse with highspeed jets) during one cycle of the acoustic pressure shock waves. Thesetwo synergetic effects work in tandem, enhancing of acoustic pressureshock waves effects on liquid/water processing.

The acoustic pressure shock wave pulses incorporate frequencies rangingfrom 100 kHz to 20 MHz and will generally have a repetition rate of 1 to20 Hz. The repetition rate is limited by cavitation, which representsthe longest time segment (hundreds to thousands of microseconds) ofpressure pulse produced by acoustic pressure shock waves. To avoid anynegative influence of new coming pulse, cavitation bubbles needsufficient time to grow to their maximum dimension and then collapsewith high speed jets that have velocities of more than 100 m/s. Thesejets, together with unidirectional nature of pressure fronts created byacoustic pressure shock waves, play an important role in unidirectionalmoving of particles from fluids/water via acoustic streaming, which isenhancing and producing a high efficiency of the water/fluid cleaningprocess. Thus, acoustic pressure shock wave pulses that have a highrepetition rate can interfere with one another and negatively affect thecavitation period, hence reducing the acoustic pressure shock wavesdesired effect.

The shock waves can increase convection in liquids by two mechanismsknown as acoustic streaming and micro-streaming. The acoustic streamingrepresents the momentum transferred to liquid from directed propagatingsound waves (pressure waves), causing the liquid to flow in thedirection of the sound propagation. During the cavitation phase,cavitation sets up eddy currents in fluid surrounding vibrating bubbles.In the vicinity of vibrating gas bubbles, surrounding liquid issubjected to rotational forces and stresses, producing a microscopicshear flow/fluid movement called micro-streaming. Also, compressiveforces and high velocity cavitational jets produced by implodingcavitation bubbles, when directed towards solids, can disturb anddislodge solid particles.

The collapse of cavitational bubbles produced by acoustic pressure shockwaves have a large amount of energy released in form of pressuregradients, fluid jets and transient heat (transient hot spots of3000-50000 K). In these extreme condition, hydroxyl (OH—) and hydrogen(H+) radicals would be formed by thermal dissociation of water that candissolve organic compounds and can be used to enhance chemical reactionsnecessary to eliminate undesired inorganic elements from thefluid/water.

In general, after shock waves application, a number of mechanical,acoustical, chemical and biological changes occur in a liquid due toacoustic cavitation that can help with cleaning of fluids andinstallations.

For removal of suspended particles, sand, dissolved solids, solubleorganics, microbial pollutants, dissolved gases, and radioactivematerials from liquids/fluids/water, the most commonly used systems areevaporation ponds/tanks, coagulation/flocculation tanks and gasflotation systems.

Evaporation ponds are artificial reservoirs that require a relativelylarge space of land designed to efficiently evaporate water by solarenergy. It is a favorable technology for warm and dry climates, due tothe potential for high evaporation rates. All water is lost to theenvironment when using this technology, a major setback when waterrecovery is an objective for water treatment. The evaporation ponds canbe replaced by mobile steel tanks called weir/separation tanks that canbe hauled by trucks to desired location. Acoustic pressure shock wavesby producing acoustic streaming via pressure gradients and collapse ofcavitational bubbles can easily separate and produce sedimentation ofsuspended particles, sand, dissolved solids, and soluble organics fromliquids/fluids/water. The process can be done using only acousticpressure shock waves (without the need of additionalchemicals/flocculants) or in combination with different flocculants (forthe coagulation/flocculation tanks) that aggregate particles in largerclumps, which are easier to be pushed in downward direction (towards thebottom of separation/weir tanks or coagulation/flocculation tanks) byacoustic pressure shock waves.

Gas flotation technology is widely used for treatment of conventionaloilfield and industrial produced water. This process uses fine gasbubbles to separate suspended particles that are not easily separated bysedimentation. When gas is injected into produced water, suspendedparticulates and oil droplets are attached to air bubbles as they rise.This results into formation of foam on water surface, which is skimmedoff as froth. Gas floatation can remove particles as small as 25 μm andcan even remove contaminants up to 3 mm in size if coagulation is addedas pre-treatment, but it cannot remove soluble oil constituents fromwater. Acoustic pressure shock waves can be used to push down anyparticles that were not raised to the tank surface during the airflotation process. Practically, by combining air flotation with acousticpressure shock waves the system efficiency can be improved. Furthermore,acoustic pressure shock waves can be used to push accumulated sludge atthe top of the tank, without any moving mechanical means, which canincrease the system reliability (the absence of moving parts reduces thepossibility of malfunctions).

The activated sludge process is used for treating sewage and industrialwastewaters with the help of air and a biological floc composed ofbacteria and protozoa. The process involves air or oxygen beingintroduced into a mixture of screened, and primary treated sewage orindustrial wastewater (wastewater) combined with organisms to develop abiological floc, which reduces the sewage organic content. In allactivated sludge plants, once wastewater has received sufficienttreatment, excess mixed liquor (combination of wastewater and biologicalmass) is discharged into settling tanks. Inorganic (lime and ferricsalt) or organic (polymers) conditioners can be used in order to improvesolid content of waste sludge. However, freeze/thaw treatment is apromising technique that can be used sludge conditioning, enhancing itsdewatering characteristics without use of polymers. Freeze/thawconditioning is able to transform bond water into free water that caneasily and more efficiently be removed by a mechanical method, asapplication of acoustic pressure shock waves. One freezing cycle isenough to obtain good results on workshop sludge. Performing more cyclesis not viable. Material thawing of should be performed over a permeablemedia (like a sieve or a compost bed) in order to let all the liquor toflow away without being retained in solidified sludge. Using acousticpressure shock waves, sludge activation can be accomplished easily, dueto acoustic streaming and cavitational activity. Furthermore, waterseparation (dewatering) from sludge can be expedited using acousticpressure shock waves, due their different propagation speed in water(300 m/s) and solids (1500 m/s). The difference in speed in betweenwater/fluids and solids produces shear forces that allows water to be“squeezed” more efficiently from solid matter using high compressivepressures and acoustic cavitation generated by acoustic pressure shockwaves.

Oily sludges, generated frequently by oil production or processingsites, contain different concentrations of waste oil (40%-60%),wastewater (30%-90%) and mineral particles (5%-40%). The oil can be acontinuous phase although water is present in a high percentage in oildroplets absorbed onto solid particles, thus creating a protective layerin the presence of surfactants that forms emulsions, which createsdifficulties in waste treatment processes and subsequently in dewateringprocess.

Demulsification treatments are necessary in order to reduce water fromsludge, thus reduce its volume, save resources and prevent environmentalpollution. Conventional demulsification techniques include electrical,chemical, thermal, and mechanical methods. The freeze/thaw technique canalso be used for oily sludges treatment and starting with a lower oilcontent will lead to better results. Direct, indirect and natural freezeprocesses can be applied in a direct freezing process, where refrigerantis mixed directly with brine (process less used due to possibility ofcontamination) or in an indirect process, where refrigerant is separatedfrom brine by a heat transfer surface. CO2 has specific benefits in useas a refrigerant. First of all, it is limitless available in ouratmosphere. It has no ozone depletion potential and insignificant globalwarming potential (considering the small amounts used in refrigeration).Furthermore, it is a cheap, non poisonous and a non flammablerefrigerant. Acoustic pressure shock waves can be used to separate oilfrom wastewater, due to their unidirectional acoustic streaming. In thecase of freeze/thaw technique to very fast separate the ice (frozenwater) from the icy sludge, which can significantly speed-up the oilysludge treatment.

For membrane technologies used in water/fluids cleaning, when membranefouling occurs, permeate flux is declined and membrane resistance isincreased, which affect water/fluid quality and quantity that passesthrough membrane and significantly reduces the membrane life time.Mechanical (sponges, jets, etc.), biological (biocides) and chemical(acids, alkalis, surfactants, sequestrates and enzymes) methods can beused to clean the affected membranes. The application of these methodsand subsequent cleaning necessary after their application requireinstallation shutdown and possibly secondary pollution from chemicalcleaning. The cost of biofouling in a membrane application includes thecosts for membrane cleaning itself, labor costs and down-time duringcleaning, pretreatment costs, including biocides and other additives, anincreased energy demand due to higher trans-membrane and tangentialhydrodynamic resistance, and shortened membranes lifetime.

In heat exchangers, the decrease of efficacy of heat transfer is thefirst aspect of biofouling-related costs and contributes to the “foulingfactor”. In power plants around the world, thousands of tons of chlorineare spent each day to combat biofilms, which amounts to high values interms of biocide and wastewater treatment costs. Again, down-time forcleaning causing loss of production and labor costs contribute a muchlarger share of costs. Treatment of wastewater contaminated withantifouling additives represents an emerging cost factor as the releaseof biocides is increasingly restricted and will cause more effort forremoval.

What clearly makes more sense is putting more effort in biofoulingprevention through advanced strategies such as use of acoustic pressureshock waves to increase membrane life and reduce/eliminate chemicalsused to prevent biofouling. Acoustic pressure shock waves can be used toreduce, eliminate or clean clogged membranes, in order to improve thesystem efficiency and make it more economic. Practically, using acousticstreaming, acoustic pressure shock waves can push clogging particles inpreferred directions, which can prolong the membrane's life and reduceor eliminate the installation down-time necessary for its cleaningprocesses (manual, chemical, etc.). The usage of acoustic pressure shockwaves to eliminate membrane fouling can be done as an online operation(can be use during filtration time), without any secondary pollutants,transportation, handling problems or installation shut down. In the sametime, acoustic pressure shock waves can enhance the distribution systemsdisinfection, due to presence of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and hydroxylfree radicals (OH—). Acoustic pressure shock waves are capable ofpreventing particles deposition that lead to fouling, can also disturband dislodge particulate matter/biofilms and enhance dissolution ofsubstances trapped on membrane surfaces, which can eliminate downtimesand prevent reduction in filtration efficiency. Even more, acousticpressure shock waves can act on any type of filter/membrane regardlessof the material used in their construction (polymers, metals, ceramics,etc.).

The prevention of clogging of reversed osmosis (RO) membranes usingacoustic pressure shock waves can significantly help with this processcosts. By reducing the RO membranes fouling, the pressure necessary forthe process can be reduced and the cost of exchanging very often of themembrane package/systems can be significantly reduced. Practically, moreefficient membranes can be designed to be used in conjunction withacoustic pressure shock waves that have longer service life and a lowermanufacturing cost.

For water/fluids disinfection process, there is a trend within the watertreatment industry to develop and employ more environmentallyresponsible technologies to help lower the impact of chemicals ineffluent waters. Acoustic pressure shock waves can eliminate use ofchemical during filtration/disinfection process for water or any otherfluids, which can reduce/eliminate the environmental impact down theline for by-products as sludge or process water. For example, by usingexisting technologies that involve chemicals, due to their chemicalburden, sludge cannot be discharged directly in nature and specialdumping sites are needed or additional processing to eliminatechemicals, which increases the operation cost.

For water softening process, acoustic pressure shock waves can be usedto facilitate the water minerals to crystallize so that they do not bindto surfaces. This can be achieved in the same time with the watercleaning process that uses acoustic pressure shock waves to removesuspended particles, sand, dissolved solids, soluble organics, microbialpollutants, dissolved gases, etc. Practically, acoustic pressure shockwaves can speed-up the chemical reactions by removing the cations tosoften the water. When hard foams and scales are already formed, shockwaves can break them down through acoustic streaming, micro-streamingand cavitational jets.

Existing desalination technologies produce scaling, i.e. saltsprecipitation on working surfaces due to concentration process, which isalways an important design consideration for desalination plants.Fouling of heat or mass transfer surfaces can greatly reduce thecapacity and efficiency of a process. Typically, calcium salts, and inparticular CaSO4 and CaCO3, are major (yet not the only) concerns. Thereare a number of strategies for preventing scale formation, includingoperating temperature limitation (calcium salts tend to have retrogradesolubility), limitation of water recovery to prevent saturation,chemical pre-treatment (e.g. the addition of acids or polyphosphates) toalter the solubility or onset of scale formers precipitation, and limeor lime-soda softening in order to remove potential scale formers. Inaddition, many systems are designed to limit the scale occurrence orimpact and to allow easy maintenance. The acoustic pressure shock wavescan be an appropriate technology to prevent or remove scaling using jetsproduced by cavitational bubbles collapse generated during the tensilephase of acoustic pressure shock waves.

Water is a unique substance that expands in volume when it becomes ice.Practically, ice is a solid that consists of a crystallographicarrangement of water molecules, where positive charge concentrations ofone molecule are strongly bonded with negative charge concentrations ofanother molecule. This polar attraction plays a major role in icecrystals structure organization that has a steady regularity andsymmetry. Because of its highly organized structure, other atoms,molecules or particles cannot become part of the ice crystal latticewithout severe local strain, and are rejected by the advancing surfaceof a growing ice crystal. Ice crystals grow by incorporating only watermolecules, and continue to grow as long as water molecules areavailable. Based on this property, the freezing process can be used toseparate pure water from brine (mixture of water and high concentrationof salts). The mixture's freezing temperature should be set at a valuelower or equal to −10° C. Higher temperatures will lead to longerfreezing time and are expensive to maintain. The most known freezingtechnologies are freeze drying, freeze concentration, freezecrystallization and freeze-thaw residual conditioning. By far, freezedrying is the oldest of said technologies, freeze concentration andfreeze crystallization are newer ones. Freeze-thaw residual conditioningis a technology that is commonly used in waste management in coldclimates.

Freeze drying is actually a vaporization process that depends onsublimation of ice to a vapor rather than changing water to a vapor. Thesuccess of the process depends on the rate of cooling (freezing), whichdetermines the ice crystals size, the vacuum in the chamber, the partialwater vapor pressure, and the product being dried. This process is usedin freeze drying thinly sliced fruits and vegetables, and has beensuccessful in coffee and similar drink products dehydration. The processdoes not work well for large particles because it takes a long time forwater vapor to diffuse from the inside of the particle to the surface.

A technology extension of freeze drying is freeze concentration, whichemploys controlled freezing to develop ice crystals in aqueous products.When solutions are chilled below the water freezing point (0° C. or 32°F.), the water crystallizes as ice and remaining liquid becomes moreconcentrated. Agitation of chilled solution usually accelerates icecrystal formation thus offering a method to speed up theseparation/concentration process. The ice crystals are formed in asuspension of brine solution and require a filtration system/removalsystem for the ice crystals to be separated from brine and a washingcolumn to wash out brine entrained in between and on the small icecrystals surface. Mainly, three forces are acting on ice, the buoyancyforce Fb due to ice density which has to overcome the drag force Fd andgravity (mg) of the ice crystals upward movement. Acoustic pressureshock waves can be used to increase the buoyancy force, thus making theice upward movement much faster (economical efficiency). Finally, aftertheir separation from brine slush, the ice crystals are melted back intopure water. The process works very well for extracting high-grade waterfrom less than desirable water sources (desalinization).

Water removal by crystallization is much more energy efficient thanwater removal by vaporization. From an energy utilization standpoint,freeze processes are much more efficient mechanisms of concentrationthan vaporization processes. It requires 143 British Thermal Units (BTU)to crystallize (freeze) a pound of water and 970 BTU to vaporize(evaporate) the same pound of water.

A new technology used to separate salt and water from a process streamis Eutectic Freeze Crystallization (EFC). Salt and ice are separated ina solid form by their density difference, which allows ice to rise tothe top and solid salt to sink to the bottom. The separation is asettling process that uses the density difference between solid salt andsolid ice. Although pure salt and ice crystals are formed, they tend toget entangled. This causes all visible ice to sink to the bottomtogether with the salt. When the salt-ice slurry is settled on thebottom, the salt and ice can be separated by agitating the slurry withsome sort of impulse, created by air jets.

There are two available methods for freeze concentration, which aresuspension freeze concentration (SFC) and progressive freezeconcentration (PFC). In SFC, ice crystals are formed in suspension inbrine, while in PFC, ice crystals are formed in a single block of ice ona refrigerated surface. Also, the SFC system must be equipped with afiltration system for the ice crystals to be separated from theconcentrate, along with a washing column to wash out those concentratesentrained in between and on the small ice crystals surface.

In the US patent application US2007/0295673, the invention relates to adesalination method and system that uses eutectic freeze crystallizationtechnology, which incorporates use of compressed air energy as thesource for freezing temperatures. In the same application differentmethods to preserve energy and produce a more efficient heat exchangeare presented. Thus in order to prevent ice formation sticking tocrystallization chamber walls, warm seawater is piped through tubes orcavities that wrap around crystallization chamber, such that seawater ispre-cooled to near freezing temperatures even before it enters thechamber. Also, waste heat from compressors can be used to prevent iceparticles from sticking to the crystallization chamber. All these energyoptimization processes can also be applied to the invention presented inthis patent.

There are several methods to separate ice from brine, by centrifuging orby flowing the slush upward in a column. The brine is then drawn offthrough peripheral discharge screens. A counter current flow offreshwater is fed into the column top to wash any remaining brine fromthe ice. The washing can be accomplished with loss of only a few percentof freshwater product. The ice is then pushed to a melter wherefreshwater is recovered.

On its turn, ice slurries wash doesn't come without difficulties. Issuessuch as channeling, viscous fingering and ice pack clogging are oftenseen in practice. Channeling occurs when certain regions are less densepacked with ice then others. The washing liquid will then follow thepath of least resistance instead of being distributed evenly. Channelingoccurs most of the time near the wall and therefore it is also known asthe wall-effect. Viscous fingering occurs when the wash front movesunevenly. The interface between the ice and the wash liquid developsinto finger-like shapes. Clogging of the wash column occurs when icecrystals in slurry have not ripened enough, and then they tend to sticktogether. Often two or all three of these problems occur in the sametime, for instance when a part of the column is blocked, the wash frontis not moving evenly and viscous fingering occurs.

Advantages of the freezing technology used for desalination include: (a)Unlike other processes, no pre-treatment chemicals are added to feedwater. (b) It is not affected if feed-water contains metals/mud or otherimpurities. (c) The process removes both organic and inorganiccompounds. (d) Freezing-out the water part is possible with any chemicalcomposition. (e) Low sludge production if compared to chemicaltreatment. (f) Waste heat from refrigeration cycle can be utilized tofurther reduce operating and investment costs for evaporation. (g) Cheapoff-peak electric power can be utilized.

In summary, desalination processes using freezing are based on removalof ice particles from salty brine (which is denser than ice particles)due to gravity. The process described in this patent relies on muchquicker and efficient way to separate ice crystals from brine by usingacoustic pressure shock waves, which improves efficiency and makefreezing desalination competitive for an industrial scale application.Furthermore, acoustic pressure shock waves can help pushing out brinetrapped in between ice crystals, which can increase even more theefficiency of desalination process and avoid extensive ice crystals washwith fresh water to remove salty brine from ice mass. Intermittentfunctioning of ice crystallizer with intermittent use of acousticpressure shock waves after slurry is formed represents the best way ofoperation.

The idea of using acoustic pressure shock waves to separate ice crystalsfrom brine solution was developed based on intriguing results anddifficulties described in the existing literature that presents thedevelopment of Eutectic Freeze Crystallization Technology. This EutecticFreeze Crystallization Technology showed inefficiencies due to slowprocess to separate ice from solid salt, high dependency on ice crystalssize, entanglement between ice crystals and salt particles duringseparation, larger pieces of ice crystal tend to block the separator,use of numerous moving parts and meshes into the system that can beclogged during separation process, etc.

Our experiments with acoustic pressure shock waves showed that less than500 acoustic pressure shock wave were needed to apply to the slush inorder to separate ice crystals from brine, which represents a highefficiency process. The energy flux density in the focusing zone was 0.1to 0.5 mJ/mm2 and the frequency of shock waves delivery was 4 Hz (4shock waves delivered per second). In industrial set-up, the energy ofshock waves can be increased beyond 0.5 mJ/mm2 based on used separationcontainer dimensions. In that case, energy flux densities of 0.5 to 3mJ/mm2 can be used. Without any washing process, salt concentrationswere dropped more than 2.5% for each step (freezing/separation).

In the US 2005/0279129, a process and a method are presented to separateheavy water from regular water by lowering the mixture temperature tothe melting point of heavy water, which is 4.49° C. Practically, whenchilled below 4.49° C., a mixture of tritiated water/heavy water andnormal water/light water allows frozen/solid state heavy water to fallto the bottom of a tank and normal water to rise to the top. By usinghighly unidirectional acoustic pressure shock waves oriented downward,the separation process of heavy water from normal water can beexpedited, thus make the method more compelling to be used at industrialscale.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of acoustic pressure shock wavesinteraction with solid particles floating in water or any liquid/fluid

FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of acoustic pressure shock wavesaction at liquid/fluid/water interface with air/gaseous medium whereacoustic pressure shock waves have a different propagation speed in aircompared to liquid/fluid/water.

FIG. 3 is a schematic representation of a wastewater/producedwater/contaminated liquid/fluid/water processing system that uses acylindrical separation tank and acoustic pressure shock wave devices,according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic representation of wastewater/producedwater/contaminated liquid/fluid/water processing system that uses aparallelepipedic weir tank/separation tank and acoustic pressure shockwave devices for wastewater/produced water/contaminated fluids/liquidsprocessing, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5A is a schematic representation of a mobile wastewater/producedwater/contaminated liquid/fluid/water processing unit installed on atrailer that uses acoustic pressure shock wave devices and fullellipsoidal tanks, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5B is a top view schematic representation of a mobilewastewater/produced water/contaminated liquid/fluid/water processingunit installed on a trailer that uses acoustic pressure shock wavedevices and full ellipsoidal tanks, according to one embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 5C is a cross-sectional schematic representation of one of the fullellipsoidal tanks presented in FIG. 5A that has a dedicated space toproduce acoustic pressure shock waves, according to one embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 5D is a cross-sectional schematic representation of one of the fullellipsoidal tanks presented in FIG. 5A that uses wastewater/producedwater/contaminated liquid/fluid/water to generate acoustic pressureshock waves, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is the schematic representation of a wastewater/producedwater/contaminated liquid/fluid/water processing system that usesacoustic pressure shock wave devices as an integral part of a dissolvedair flotation system, according to one embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 7 is the schematic representation of a wastewater/producedwater/contaminated liquid/fluid/water processing system that usesacoustic pressure shock wave devices to pre-treat wastewater/producedwater/contaminated liquid/fluid/water before entering a parallelepipedicdissolved air flotation system that also incorporates acoustic pressureshock wave devices, according to one embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 8 is the schematic representation of a wastewater/producedwater/contaminated liquid/fluid/water processing system that usesacoustic pressure shock wave devices to pre-treat wastewater/producedwater/contaminated liquid/fluid/water before entering a cylindricaldissolved air flotation system that also incorporates acoustic pressureshock wave devices, according to one embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 9 is the schematic representation illustrating use of acousticpressure shock wave devices to separate floating foam/sludge/oil orgrease at the surface of wastewater/produced water/contaminatedliquid/fluid/water, according to one embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 10 is a schematic representation illustrating the use of acousticpressure shock wave devices to activate sludge, according to oneembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a schematic representation illustrating the use of acousticpressure shock wave devices to produce sludge dewatering, according toone embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a schematic representation illustrating clogging of afiltration porous membrane/filter when liquid/fluid/water flow isperpendicular to membrane/filter.

FIG. 13A is a schematic representation illustrating the use of acousticpressure shock wave devices for declogging of a filtration porousmembrane/filter when the liquid/fluid/water flow is perpendicular to themembrane/filter and acoustic pressure shock wave devices are placedafter/behind the membrane/filter, according to one embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 13B is a schematic representation illustrating use of acousticpressure shock wave devices for declogging of a filtration porousmembrane/filter when liquid/fluid/water flow is perpendicular tomembrane/filter and acoustic pressure shock wave devices are placedparallel to membrane/filter surface, according to one embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 14 is a schematic representation illustrating clogging of afiltration porous membrane/filter when liquid/fluid/water flow isparallel to membrane/filter.

FIG. 15A is a schematic representation illustrating use of acousticpressure shock wave devices for declogging of a filtration porousmembrane/filter when liquid/fluid/water flow is parallel tomembrane/filter and acoustic pressure shock wave devices are placedafter/behind membrane/filter, according to one embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 15B is a schematic representation illustrating use of acousticpressure shock wave devices for declogging of a filtration porousmembrane/filter when liquid/fluid/water flow is parallel tomembrane/filter and acoustic pressure shock wave devices are placedparallel to membrane/filter surface along liquid/fluid/water path,according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a schematic representation illustrating use of acousticpressure shock wave devices for declogging of a filtration porousmembrane/filter when acoustic pressure shock wave devices are placedboth tangential and perpendicular to membrane/filter surface, accordingto one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a schematic representation illustrating use of acousticpressure shock wave devices for declogging of a filtration porousmembrane/filter positioned at angle A1 to direction ofliquid/fluid/water flow and acoustic pressure shock wave devices areplaced perpendicular to liquid/fluid/water path, according to oneembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a schematic representation illustrating the influence of lowvelocity/pressure/force of liquid/fluid/water on declogging process(compared with high velocity/pressure/force of liquid/fluid/waterillustrated in FIG. 17), when a filtration porous membrane/filter ispositioned at angle A1 to the direction of liquid/fluid/water flow andacoustic pressure shock wave devices are placed perpendicular toliquid/fluid/water path, according to one embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 19 is a schematic representation illustrating the influence of afiltration porous membrane/filter orientation relatively toliquid/fluid/water flow (angles A1 and A2) on declogging process whenacoustic pressure shock wave devices are placed perpendicular to theliquid/fluid/water path, according to one embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating reverse osmosis (RO) process used forwater desalination (prior art).

FIG. 21 is a schematic representation illustrating a reverse osmosis(RO) desalination system (prior art).

FIG. 22 is the schematic representation illustrating use of acousticpressure shock wave devices to produce reverse osmotic filtration in alarge parallelepipedic tank, according to one embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 23 is a schematic representation illustrating use of acousticpressure shock wave devices to produce reverse osmotic filtration in alarge array system that has multiple reverse osmotic cells/units,according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 24 is a schematic representation illustrating use of acousticpressure shock wave devices for water desalination, according to oneembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 25 is a three dimensional view of the water desalination systempresented in FIG. 24 that uses acoustic pressure shock wave devices,according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 26 is a schematic representation illustrating hollow balls that canbe used to chill faster the brine during freezing water desalination,according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 27 is a schematic representation illustrating a cell/unit that usesacoustic pressure shock wave devices for water desalination to rapidlyseparate ice crystals from brine, according to one embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 28 is a cross-sectional schematic representation of the cell/unitpresented in FIG. 27 illustrating the use of acoustic pressure shockwave devices for water desalination to rapidly separate ice crystalsfrom brine, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 29 is a schematic representation illustrating use of acousticpressure shock wave devices for water desalination in a large arraysystem that has multiple cells/units presented in FIG. 27 and FIG. 28,according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 30 is a schematic representation illustrating use of acousticpressure shock wave devices for water desalination in a large arraysystem that has multiple cells/units presented in FIG. 27 and FIG. 28,according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 31 is a schematic representation of a large system used for waterdesalination that employs acoustic pressure shock waves and fullellipsoidal tanks according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 32 is a schematic representation illustrating a cell/unit that usesacoustic pressure shock wave devices to separate heavy water from normalwater, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 33 is a cross-sectional schematic representation of the cell/unitpresented in FIG. 32 illustrating use of acoustic pressure shock wavedevices to separate heavy water from normal water, according to oneembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 34 is a schematic representation illustrating use of acousticpressure shock wave devices to separate heavy water from normal water ina large array system that has multiple cells/units presented in FIG. 32and FIG. 33, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 35 is a schematic representation of a large system used to separateheavy water from normal water that uses acoustic pressure shock wavedevices and full ellipsoidal tanks, according to one embodiment of thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the invention will be described with reference to theaccompanying drawings and figures, wherein like numbers represent likeelements throughout. Further, it is to be understood that thephraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose ofdescription and should not be regarded as limiting. The use of“including”, “comprising”, or “having” and variations thereof herein ismeant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereofas well as additional items. The terms “connected”, and “coupled” areused broadly and encompass both direct and indirect mounting, connectingand coupling. Further, “connected” and “coupled” are not restricted tophysical or mechanical connections or couplings.

It is a further objective of the present inventions to provide differentmethods of generating focused, unfocused, planar, pseudo-planar orradial extracorporeal acoustic pressure shock waves for water processingusing specific devices that contain either of the following acousticpressure shock wave generators:

-   -   electrohydraulic generators using high voltage discharges    -   electrohydraulic generators using one or multiple laser sources    -   piezoelectric generators using piezo crystals    -   piezoelectric generators using piezo fibers    -   electromagnetic generators using a flat coil    -   electromagnetic generators using a cylindrical coil

It is a further objective of the present inventions to provide means ofcontrolling the energy and the penetrating depth of extracorporealacoustic pressure shock waves via the amount of energy generated fromacoustic pressure shock wave generators, total number of the acousticpressure shock waves/pulses, repetition frequency of the acousticpressure shock waves and special construction of the reflectors andmembranes used in the acoustic pressure shock wave applicators.

It is an objective of the present inventions to provide acousticpressure shock waves generating devices that are modular, do not needhigh maintenance and can, if needed, be applied/used in conjunction withother technologies.

It is a further objective of the present inventions to provide a varietyof novel acoustic pressure shock wave applicator constructionsdetermined by the number of reflectors housed in the applicator,specific reflector shape and reflector's capability to guide or focusacoustic pressure shock waves on a specific direction.

The inventions summarized below and defined by the enumerated claims arebetter understood by referring to the following detailed description,which should be read in conjunction with accompanying drawing. Thedetailed description of a particular embodiment is set out to enable onepractice the inventions, it is not intended to limit the enumeratedclaims, but to serve as a particular example thereof.

Also, the list of embodiments presented in this patent is not anexhaustive one and for those skilled in the art, new applications can befound.

The acoustic pressure shock waves can increase convection in liquids bytwo mechanisms known as acoustic streaming and micro-streaming. Theacoustic streaming represents momentum transferred to liquid fromdirected propagating acoustic pressure shock waves (pressure waves),causing the liquid to flow in the shock waves' propagation direction.During the cavitation phase, cavitation sets up eddy currents in fluidsurrounding vibrating bubbles. In the vibrating gas bubbles vicinity,surrounding liquid is subjected to rotational forces and stresses,producing a microscopic shear flow/fluid movement calledmicro-streaming. Overall, acoustic streaming and micro-streaming createa unidirectional movement produced by acoustic pressure shock waves.

FIG. 1 shows interaction of acoustic pressure shock waves 10 with smallparticles 14 that are floating in a water/liquid medium 11. Due to abovementioned acoustic streaming and micro-streaming produced by theacoustic pressure shock waves 10, a unidirectional movement insidewater/liquid medium 11 is produced, thus an acoustic pressure shock wavepropagation direction 12 is defined. Practically, acoustic pressureshock waves 10 are moving with acoustic pressure shock wave velocity inliquids/fluids/water 16 of approximately 1500 m/s. Small particles 14that are floating in a water/liquid/fluid medium 11 are engaged viaacoustic streaming and micro-streaming produced by the acoustic pressureshock waves 10, thus small particles 14 start to travel in smallparticle movement direction 15. This process can be beneficial inliquids/fluids/water cleaning, due to the fact that acoustic pressureshock waves 10 can be used to move more efficiently/faster the smallparticles 14 (suspended/floating particles, sand, dissolved solids,soluble organics, microbial pollutants, dissolved gases, and radioactivematerials from liquids/fluids/water) in the required direction toexpedite their sedimentation and, finally, cleaning ofliquids/fluids/water.

It is well known that acoustic pressure shock waves 10 travel withdifferent acoustic speeds in different mediums. Thus, acoustic speed ofacoustic pressure shock waves 10 is the slowest in air (c=343 m/s), itis faster in liquids/fluids/water (c=1500 m/s) and it is the fastest insolids (c=4800-9200 m/s). The difference of acoustic speed in betweenliquids/fluids/water and air/gaseous medium can be advantageously usedwhen acoustic pressure shock waves 10 travel at the interface in betweensuch mediums, as presented in FIG. 2. Practically, when acousticpressure shock waves 10 are generated along the interface in betweenliquid/fluid/water medium 11 and air/gaseous medium 20, acousticpressure shock waves 10 will move with acoustic pressure shock wavevelocity in liquids/fluids/water 16 of approximately 1500 m/s and withacoustic pressure shock wave velocity in air/gaseous medium 21 ofapproximately 343 m/s, which creates a velocity differential, thus shearforces are generated at the interface/surface that separatesliquid/fluid/water medium 11 from air/gaseous medium 20. This can beused to separate foam from liquids/fluids/water or any floatingsludge/residues/oil or grease from industrial liquids/fluids orprocessed/produced waters.

The embodiment of FIG. 3 shows a schematic representation of awastewater/processed or produced water/contaminated fluid/liquidprocessing system that uses a cylindrical separation tank 30 andacoustic pressure shock wave devices 34. Contaminated liquid/fluid/water38 is pumped inside cylindrical separation tank 30 via centralliquid/fluid/water inlet column 31. Central inlet liquid/fluid/waterflow 32 has an upward direction, then contaminated liquid/fluid/water 38is guided downward and a lateral liquid/fluid/water flow 33 isestablished through the action zone of acoustic pressure shock waves 10produced by acoustic pressure shock wave devices 34 positioned at thetop of cylindrical separation tank 30. The downward action of acousticpressure shock waves 10 will efficiently push suspended/floatingparticles, sand, dissolved solids, soluble organics, minerals, microbialpollutants, dissolved gases, and radioactive materials from contaminatedliquid/fluid/water 38 towards the bottom of cylindrical separation tank30 where they accumulate as sludge 37. After passing through the actionzone of acoustic pressure shock waves 10, liquid/fluid/water will takean upward liquid/fluid/water flow 35 towards clean liquid/fluid/watercollection channel 36, which is the only way out from cylindricalseparation tank 30.

Without acoustic pressure shock waves 10, the cleaning process ofcontaminated liquid/fluid/water 38 is functioning gravitationally, basedon the fact that different particles coalescence together usingdifferent coagulants/flocculants, which makes their weight sufficient toovercome the buoyancy forces produced by contaminated liquid/fluid/water38. By applying downward unidirectional acoustic streaming produced byacoustic pressure shock waves 10, suspended/floating small particles 12(see FIG. 1) are pushed towards the bottom of cylindrical separationtank 30 with an additional force that adds to gravitational forceproduced by the particle weight, thus decreasing the time necessary tosettle the particle at the bottom of the cylindrical separation tank 30(easier to overcome contaminated liquid/fluid/water 38 buoyancy forces,which allows particles to move faster towards the bottom of cylindricalseparation tank 30). A first consequence of acoustic pressure shockwaves 10 action is a faster decontamination of contaminatedliquid/fluid/water 38 (increased efficiency). The second consequence isthe possibility of eliminating use of coagulants/flocculants, due to thefact that additional forces produced by acoustic pressure shock waves 10might be able to settle much smaller suspended/floating particles 14(see FIG. 1) at the bottom of cylindrical separation tank 30, thuseliminating use of coagulants/flocculants with the purpose to makeparticles bigger through coalescence, which has positive environmentalimplications.

The embodiment of FIG. 4 shows schematic representation of awastewater/processed or produced water/contaminated fluid/liquidprocessing system that uses a parallelepipedic weir tank/separation tank40 and acoustic pressure shock wave devices 34. Contaminatedliquid/fluid/water 38 is pumped via contaminated liquid/fluid/waterinlet 41 inside the first chamber of parallelepipedic weirtank/separation tank 40. Contaminated liquid/fluid/water 38 is guideddownward around the first separation/partition wall 42A to enterflocculation chamber 45. Flocculation station 43 dispensescoagulants/flocculants used to make bigger suspended/floating smallparticles 14 through coalescence (see FIG. 1), by mixing contaminatedliquid/fluid/water 38 with dispensed coagulants/flocculants via mixingpropeller 44. Some of coalesced particles may drop at the bottom offlocculation chamber 45 but majority of particles leave flocculationchamber 45 by passing in between the second and the thirdseparation/partition walls 42B and 42C and enter acoustic pressure shockwaves cleaning chamber 46. Contaminated liquid/fluid/water 38establishes a diagonal flow from the bottom of the thirdseparation/partition wall 42C towards the top of the fourthseparation/partition wall 42D and through the action zone of acousticpressure shock waves 10 produced by acoustic pressure shock wave devices34 positioned at the top of pressure shock waves cleaning chamber 46.During this diagonal flow inside acoustic pressure shock waves cleaningchamber 46, contaminated liquid/fluid/water 38 is cleaned due to factthat coalesced particles fall at the bottom of the tank as a result oftheir weight and acoustic streaming force created by acoustic pressureshock waves 10, that overcome the upward buoyancy force produced bycontaminated liquid/fluid/water 38. The downward action of acousticpressure shock waves 10 will efficiently push suspended particles, sand,dissolved solids, soluble organics, microbial pollutants, dissolvedgases, and radioactive materials from contaminated liquid/fluid/water 38towards the bottom of pressure shock waves cleaning chamber 46 wherethey accumulate as sludge 37 (see FIG. 3), which is evacuated/collectedthrough sludge outlet 47. After passing through the action zone ofacoustic pressure shock waves 10, decontaminated liquid/fluid/water 48flows towards filtration outlet 49.

The parallelepipedic weir tanks/separation tanks 40 (see FIG. 4) ingeneral are designed to establish a relatively horizontal flow fromcontaminated liquid/fluid/water inlet 41 towards filtration outlet 49,which creates a longer residence time inside these parallelepipedic weirtanks/separation tanks 40 compared to cylindrical separation tanks 30.Due to longer residence time inside parallelepipedic weirtanks/separation tanks 40, dirtier liquid/fluid/waters can be cleaned,which makes these tanks the most popular to be used for wastewater andprocessed or produced liquids/fluids/waters cleaning.

Mineral exploitation is done with the use of significant amounts ofwater (processed or produced water) that subsequently need to beseparated from the minerals and also cleaned from different residualcontaminants. Also, oil exploitations are using significant amounts ofwater for primary, secondary and tertiary oil extraction. Most of thetimes, besides separation of oil from water, rocks or minerals and saltneed to be extracted from this processed/produced water. For removal ofsuspended/floating particles, sand, dissolved solids, soluble organics,minerals, microbial pollutants, dissolved gases, and radioactivematerials from processed or produced liquids/fluids/waters, the mostcommonly used systems are evaporation ponds or evaporation tanks,coagulation/flocculation tanks and gas flotation systems.

Evaporation ponds are artificial reservoirs that require a relativelylarge space of land, designed to efficiently evaporate water by solarenergy. It is a favorable technology for warm and dry climates, due topotential high evaporation rates. Evaporation ponds advantages have verylow operational costs, are solar driven with minimal maintenance costs,and their disadvantages are leaching, expensive lining materials, highcost of land, slow process, dependency on climate, etc.

The majority of tailing ponds are formed from produced/process waterused in oil, mining exploitations, industrial processes, etc. andcontain not only dirty liquids/fluids/water, but also toxic substancesthat affect the environment and wildlife, thus creating an environmentalhazard. It is the reason why adjacent communities to tailing ponds aremoving to eliminate said ponds, clean the areas and regain the land forother uses. To clean and eliminate tailing ponds, stationary facilitiescan be created that are using parallelepipedic weir tanks/separationtanks 40 (as presented in FIG. 4) that are environmentally safe.

Evaporation ponds can also be replaced by mobile steel evaporation tankscalled weir/separation tanks (similar in construction to theparallelepipedic weir tanks/separation tanks 40 presented in FIG. 4),that can be hauled by trucks to desired location. Acoustic pressureshock waves 10, by producing acoustic streaming via pressure gradientsand collapse of cavitational bubbles, can easily separate and producesedimentation of suspended/floating small particles 14 from contaminatedwater/liquids/fluids 38 (see FIG. 4). The cleaning process can becompleted in some cases using only acoustic pressure shock waves 10(without the need of additional chemicals/flocculants), which can makethe process more environmentally friendly.

There are also other situations where acoustic pressure shock waves 10are used in combination with different flocculants that aggregateparticles in larger clumps. Due to the fact that acoustic pressure shockwaves 10 produce streaming inside an aqueous/liquid/fluid medium,acoustic pressure shock waves 10 can be used to mix flocculants withwastewater or processed/produced liquid/fluid/water without the use ofexpensive mixers, and to produce in the same time a directional movetowards the bottom of parallelepipedic weir tanks/separation tanks 40 topush downward particles attached to flocculants, where sludge isaccumulated.

In treating processed or produced liquid/fluid/water with acousticpressure shock waves 10 (see FIG. 1, FIG. 2, FIG. 3 or FIG. 4), theefficient extraction of minerals/elements can be achieved. For theseprocesses, acoustic pressure shock waves 10 can produce reactive speciesgenerated by cavitation bubbles collapse created by the tensile phase ofacoustic pressure shock waves 10, which can facilitate and promotedifferent necessary chemical reactions at lower energies, thus improvingthe efficiency of minerals/elements extraction from processed/producedliquid/fluid/water. With this method, acoustic pressure shock waves 10can eliminate some of the chemicals used in liquid/fluid/water cleaningprocess, making its cleaning more environmental friendly. Thus, acousticpressure shock waves can easily deal with foam formation and separationfrom processed/produced liquid/fluid/water. Also, due to elimination orreduced use of chemicals, when acoustic pressure shock wave technologyis employed, the equipment fouling, scaling, foaming and corrosion canbe reduced or eliminated. Also, if fouling and scaling do occur,acoustic pressure shock waves can be used to clean the pipes/equipment,as presented in US Application US 2015/0337630.

Using energy delivered by acoustic pressure shock waves 10, processessuch as blending, homogenizing, deagglomerating, dispersing, dissolving,particle size reduction, particle surface cleaning, agitation, etc. canbe achieved. For this purpose, a mobile fleet of trucks that haul tankssimilar to parallelepipedic weir tanks/separation tanks 40 that useacoustic pressure shock waves 10 can be used. Alternatively, acousticpressure shock waves can be employed in proprietarytanks/enclosures/reactors in shape of a full ellipsoid, to be able andseparate suspended particles and ionic substances into precipitants (forexample lithium, selenium, zircon, sulfur, heavy mining minerals/metals,salts, etc.), that may have additional commercial value after theircleaning or processed with other secondary processes using knowntechnologies. In this case, specialized trucks hauling trailers on whichdistinctive proprietary full ellipsoid shaped tanks/enclosures/reactorsare installed, to enhance effectiveness of acoustic pressure shock waves10 in cleaning processed or produced liquid/fluid/water of oil, debris,large particles, suspended/floating particles, sand, dissolved solids,soluble organics, minerals, microbial pollutants, dissolved gases, andradioactive materials or extraction of minerals/elements (see FIG. 5A.FIG. 5B and FIG. 5C). The advantage of such mobile fleet of specializedtrucks is the mobility from one tailing pond to another once cleaning iscompleted, no additional infrastructure is left behind. Also, thisapproach of mobile trucks can be used for new exploitation, thusavoiding creating new tailing ponds.

FIG. 5A shows a double drop trailer 50 that carries twelve (12)specialized ellipsoidal acoustic shock wave tanks 51, each with acapacity of 600 gallons, where all trailer dimensions are given inmeters. Specialized ellipsoidal acoustic shock wave tanks 51 (fullellipsoid) can be designed to have 300, 600, 900, 1200 or 1800 gallonscapacity. In order to accomplish different capacities, the small axisdiameter of ellipsoid will increase for 300 to 1800 gallons capacityspecialized ellipsoidal acoustic shock wave tanks 51, still having aheight (ellipsoid's large axis) that allows trailer to fit under normalbridges build over roads. The number of specialized ellipsoidal acousticshock wave tanks 51 that fit on a trailer can be 3 tanks for 1800-gallontanks and up to 12 tanks for the 300 and 600-gallon tanks. In theembodiment presented in FIG. 5A, due to a large number of specializedellipsoidal acoustic shock wave tanks 51 that fit on double drop trailer50, said tanks can be grouped and create specialized modules 52,designed to produce acoustic pressure shock waves 10 (see FIG. 5B andFIG. 5C) and accomplish certain cleaning operation (for example,separation of oil from water or separation of suspended particles andionic substances into precipitants, etc.). The specific operation isaccomplished by specific orientation of acoustic shock waves 10 (upward,as seen in FIG. 5B and FIG. 5C, or downward, accomplished whenspecialized ellipsoidal acoustic shock wave tanks 51 are rotated 180°),dosage (number of acoustic pressure shock waves per second and energyinput) or specific substances designed to work in tandem with acousticpressure shock waves 10. The circulation of processed/producedliquid/fluid/water from one specialized module 52 to another, or fromone specialized ellipsoidal acoustic shock wave tank 51 to another isaccomplished by pumps module 53 that can incorporate one or more pumps.The connection in between different specialized ellipsoidal acousticshock wave tanks 51 is realized via liquid/fluid/water circulating pipes55, which can be positioned at the bottom (not shown in FIG. 5A forsimplicity and clarity), at the middle (shown in FIG. 5A) or at the top(not shown in FIG. 5A for simplicity and clarity) of specializedellipsoidal acoustic shock wave tanks 51. The verticality of eachspecialized ellipsoidal acoustic shock wave tanks 51 is assured by tanksupports 56.

The speed of processed/produced liquid/fluid/water through specializedellipsoidal acoustic shock wave tanks 51 or specialized modules 52 isassured by control and data panel 54, that controls and displays thework performed by pumps module 53 and the closed or opened state fordifferent valves (not shown in FIG. 5A for simplicity). Furthermore,control and data panel 54 controls and displays the energy output/dosageand functionality of acoustic pressure shock wave generators 63 (seeFIG. 5B or FIG. 5C) for each specialized ellipsoidal acoustic shock wavetank 51. In the embodiments presented in FIG. 5A, FIG. 5B and FIG. 5C,upper shell 60 of an ellipsoid geometry is used to create a fullellipsoid together with lower shell 61, which allows usage of the wholeellipsoid surface for focusing acoustic pressure shock waves 10. In thisway, a field of pressure gradients is created in the whole ellipsoidvolume, which in principle doubles the efficiency, compared to classicalconstruction where only lower shell 61 (called reflector, thatrepresents only half an ellipsoid) is employed, which uses only 50% ofan ellipsoid surface to focus acoustic pressure shock waves 10.

If contaminated liquid/fluid/water 38 has a high viscosity and cannotproduce acoustic pressure shock waves via electrohydraulic principle(high voltage discharge in between electrodes 59 in order to create anoscillating plasma bubble), then a clean liquid/fluid/water propagationmedium 58 is necessary (see FIG. 5B) to produce oscillating plasmabubble in between electrodes 59, thus generating acoustic pressure shockwaves in first focal point F₁, which then are focused towards the secondfocal point F₂. To accomplish this, a membrane 57 needs to beincorporated inside specialized ellipsoidal acoustic shock wave tankwith membrane 51A (see FIG. 5B), which allows the separation ofcontaminated liquid/fluid/water 38 from clean liquid/fluid/waterpropagation medium 58, where acoustic pressure shock waves (not shown inFIG. 5B for simplicity and clarity) are generated via high voltages andcurrents provided by acoustic pressure shock wave generators 63. Theacoustic impedance (product of sound speed and medium/material density)of membrane 57 should be in the same range/value with the acousticimpedance of clean liquid/fluid/water propagation medium 58 andcontaminated liquid/fluid/water 38, to assure a propagation of acousticpressure shock waves without losses.

In order to allow easy cleaning of specialized ellipsoidal acousticshock wave tank with membrane 51A from FIG. 5B, the actual ellipsoid'sreflective surface created by using upper shell 60 combined with lowershell 61, kept in place using connecting and sealing assembly 62. Forthose skilled in the art of engineering, connecting and sealing assembly62 can be a set of flanges secured in place with screws that incorporatesealing elements such as O-rings, flat or special seals or a band withsealing elements that is secured in place with screws, or any otherdesign that provides a good liquid/fluid/water seal and keeps togetherupper shell 60 and lower shell 61.

If the contaminated liquid/fluid/water 38 has a low viscosity and canproduce acoustic pressure shock waves via electrohydraulic principle(high voltage discharge in between electrodes 59 in order to create anoscillating plasma bubble), then there is no need to have a membrane 57(as seen in FIG. 5B). In this case, specialized ellipsoidal acousticshock wave tank without membrane 51B can be used to produce oscillatingplasma bubble in between electrodes 59 and thus generating acousticpressure shock waves in the first focal point F₁, which then are focusedtowards the second focal point F₂ (see FIG. 5C).

In order to allow easy cleaning of specialized ellipsoidal acousticshock wave tank without membrane 51B from FIG. 5C, the actual reflectivesurface of the ellipsoid is created by using upper shell 60 combinedwith lower shell 61, kept in place using connecting and sealing assembly62 that provides a good liquid/fluid/water seal and keeps together uppershell 60 and lower shell 61. As presented before for FIG. 5B, also forthe embodiment from FIG. 5C, connecting and sealing assembly 62 can be aset of flanges secured in place with screws that incorporate sealingelements such as O-rings, flat or special seals or a band with sealingelements that is secured in place with screws, or any other design thatcan provide connection and sealing and can be developed by those skilledin the art of engineering.

For specialized ellipsoidal acoustic shock wave tank with membrane 51Aand specialized ellipsoidal acoustic shock wave tank without membrane51B presented in FIG. 5B and FIG. 5C, if any sludge 37 is produced,special sludge outlets 47 (not specifically shown in FIG. 5B and FIG.5C) can be added to tanks 51A and 51B for continuous collection ofsludge 37 via dedicated pump/pumps from pumps module 53.

Another method used for cleaning processed or produced contaminatedliquid/fluid/water 38 is the gas flotation technology (see FIG. 6). Thisprocess uses fine gas bubbles to separate suspended particles that arenot easily separated by sedimentation from contaminatedliquid/fluid/water 38 that is introduced inside gas flotationparallelepipedic tank 65 via contaminated liquid/fluid/water inlet 41and feed sump 64. When gas is injected through gas flotation feed 66from air compressor 67 into processed or produced contaminatedliquid/fluid/water 38, suspended particulates and oil droplets areattached to air bubbles, as they rise. This action results intoformation of foam on the surface of contaminated liquid/fluid/water 38,which is skimmed off as froth by scraper 69 and results in sludge 37A,that is evacuated via sludge outlet 47 after valve 68 is opened. Gasflotation can remove particles as small as 25 μm and can even removecontaminants up to 3 mm in size, if coagulation is added as apre-treatment, but it cannot remove soluble oil constituents from water.Acoustic pressure shock waves 10 produced by acoustic pressure shockwave devices 34 can be used to push down any particles that were notraised to the surface of gas flotation parallelepipedic tank 65 duringair flotation process, as seen in FIG. 6. Accumulation of sludge 37B atthe bottom of gas flotation parallelepipedic tank 65, produced byacoustic pressure shock waves 10 generated by the acoustic pressureshock wave devices 34, is evacuated via corresponding sludge outlet 47after valve 68 is opened. Practically, by combining air flotation withacoustic pressure shock waves 10 (that produce a downward acousticstreaming), the system efficiency can be improved. Furthermore, in someembodiments (see FIG. 9), acoustic pressure shock waves 10 can be usedto push accumulated foamy sludge 37A at the top of the tank, without anymoving mechanical means, which can increase the system reliability (theabsence of moving parts reduces the possibility of malfunctions).Decontaminated liquid/fluid/water 48 is evacuated via filtration outlet49 for further clarification/filtration. Any liquid/fluid/water flow inthe system or flow of compressed air from compressor 67 or of sludge 37Aor 37B is controlled via valves 68.

A typical gas flotation system is designed to re-circulate a portion ofclarified decontaminated liquid/fluid/water 48 through a pressurizationsystem by means of centrifugal recycle pumps 72 (shown in FIG. 7 and notspecifically shown in FIG. 6). Recycled decontaminatedliquid/fluid/water 48 collected via liquid/fluid/water recirculationfilter 74 is pumped by centrifugal recycle pumps 72 into an airsaturation tank 71 where compressed air sent by air compressor 67 isdissolved into flow under pressure. Air saturated recycleddecontaminated liquid/fluid/water 48 is then pushed under pressurethrough valve 68 into gas flotation feed 66 towards gas flotationparallelepipedic tank 65, where it thoroughly mixes with contaminatedliquid/fluid/water 38 or partially cleaned liquid/fluid/water, due toacoustic shock waves 10 action generated by acoustic pressure shock wavedevices 34 inside acoustic pressure shock waves cleaning chamber 46, asshown in FIG. 7. The sudden release of pressure by means of a backpressure control valve 68 causes dissolved air to come out of solutionand form microscopic gas flotation bubbles 70. These microscopic gasflotation bubbles 70 adhere to incoming solids from contaminatedliquid/fluid/water 38 and form a buoyant blanket, which rises to thesurface for mechanical removal with scraper 69.

To increase efficiency of liquid/fluid/water cleaning, the embodimentfrom FIG. 7 shows combination of parallelepipedic weir tank/separationtank 40 (executes heavy cleaning of contaminated liquid/fluid/water 38inside acoustic pressure shock waves cleaning chamber 46, usingflocculation combined with acoustic pressure shock waves 10) with a gasflotation parallelepipedic tank 65 (continues cleaning of contaminatedliquid/fluid/water 38 using microscopic gas flotation bubbles 70combined with acoustic pressure shock waves 10). This combination systempresented in FIG. 7 can increase the cleaning efficiency for heavilycontaminated liquid/fluid/water 38, by combining flocculationtechnology, air flotation technology and acoustic shock wave technology.Practically, heavy contaminated liquid/fluid/water 38 is introducedinside parallelepipedic weir tank/separation tank 40 via contaminatedliquid/fluid/water inlet 41 and passes separation/partition wall 42A toget inside flocculation chamber 45, where flocculation process takesplace under the action of mixing propeller 44 driven by flocculationstation 43 that also is dispensing the flocculent agent. Some of thecoalesced particles may drop at the bottom of flocculation chamber 45,but most of the particles leave flocculation chamber 45 by passing inbetween the second and the third separation/partition walls 42B and 42Cand enter acoustic pressure shock waves cleaning chamber 46.Contaminated liquid/fluid/water 38 establishes a diagonal flow from thebottom of the third separation/partition wall 42C towards the top of thefourth separation/partition wall 42D and right through the action zoneof acoustic pressure shock waves 10 produced by acoustic pressure shockwave devices 34, positioned at the top of acoustic pressure shock wavescleaning chamber 46. During this diagonal flow inside acoustic pressureshock waves cleaning chamber 46, contaminated liquid/fluid/water 38 iscleaned due to fact that coalesced particles fall at the bottom of thetank as a result of own weight and acoustic streaming force created byacoustic pressure shock waves 10 that overcomes the upward buoyancyforce produced by contaminated liquid/fluid/water 38. The downwardaction of acoustic pressure shock waves 10, combined with the downwardflow of contaminated liquid/fluid/water 38, will efficiently pushsuspended particles, sand, dissolved solids, soluble organics, microbialpollutants, dissolved gases, and radioactive materials from contaminatedliquid/fluid/water 38 towards the bottom of acoustic pressure shockwaves cleaning chamber 46, where particles are evacuated/collectedthrough sludge outlet 47A. After passing through the action zone ofacoustic pressure shock waves 10, partially decontaminatedliquid/fluid/water flows in between the fourth and the fifthseparation/partition walls 42D and 42E and enters gas flotationparallelepipedic tank 65. Microscopic gas flotation bubbles 70 attach tothe remaining suspended particulates and oil droplets as they risetowards the top of gas flotation parallelepipedic tank 65. This processcreates a foamy/floating sludge 37 at the interface betweenliquid/fluid/water and air, which is skimmed into a float box/sludgecollection area or chamber (at the right side of the gas flotationparallelepipedic tank 65) from where sludge is evacuated/collected viasludge outlet 47B. The bubbly liquid/fluid/water has the tendency tostay at the top of gas flotation parallelepipedic tank 65, andmicroscopic gas flotation bubbles 70 just disintegrate in the air abovegas flotation parallelepipedic tank 65. However, the majority of theliquid/fluid/water is pushed towards the right lower corner of gasflotation parallelepipedic tank 65, which forces partially cleanedliquid/fluid/water to move through the action zone of acoustic pressureshock waves 10 produced by acoustic pressure shock wave devices 34positioned relatively at the top of gas flotation parallelepipedic tank65 and below the mixture of liquid/fluid/water with microscopic gasflotation bubbles 70 and sludge 37, that accumulates at the top of gasflotation parallelepipedic tank 65. This process produces an additionalcleaning of partially cleaned liquid/fluid/water, and accumulated sludge(at the bottom of gas flotation parallelepipedic tank 65) isevacuated/collected via sludge outlet 47B. Note that acoustic pressureshock waves 10 produced by acoustic pressure shock wave devices 34 fromacoustic pressure shock waves cleaning chamber 46 have a downward actionagainst the upward flow of contaminated liquid/fluid/water 38, and ingas flotation parallelepipedic tank 65, acoustic pressure shock waves 10act in the same direction with the downward flow of partially cleanedliquid/fluid/water, which shows versatility of usage of acousticpressure shock waves 10 in cleaning processed or produced contaminatedliquid/fluid/water 38. In the system presented in FIG. 7, finally,decontaminated liquid/fluid/water then passes the sixthseparation/partition walls 42E and it is evacuated via filtration outlet49 (for further filtration/clarification) when valve 68 is opened andoutlet pump 73 is actuated.

In another embodiment of this invention, for increased efficiency ofliquid/fluid/water cleaning, a combination of a parallelepipedic weirtank/separation tank 40 (does the heavy cleaning of contaminatedliquid/fluid/water 38 inside acoustic pressure shock waves cleaningchamber 46 using flocculation combined with acoustic pressure shockwaves 10) with a gas flotation cylindrical tank 80 (continues thecleaning of contaminated liquid/fluid/water 38 using microscopic gasflotation bubbles 70 inside a rise tube 83 combined with acousticpressure shock waves 10) is presented in FIG. 8.

The system from FIG. 8 is also combining flocculation technology, airflotation technology and acoustic shock wave technology (similar to thesystem from FIG. 7) to increase the efficiency of cleaning for heavycontaminated liquid/fluid/water 38. Practically, heavy contaminatedliquid/fluid/water 38 is introduced inside parallelepipedic weirtank/separation tank 40 via contaminated liquid/fluid/water inlet 41 andpasses separation/partition wall 42A to get inside flocculation chamber45, where flocculation process takes place under the action of mixingpropeller 44 driven by flocculation station 43 that is also dispensingthe flocculent agent. Some of the coalesced particles may drop at thebottom of flocculation chamber 45, but most of the particles leaveflocculation chamber 45 by passing in between the second and the thirdseparation/partition walls 42B and 42C, and enter acoustic pressureshock waves cleaning chamber 46. Contaminated liquid/fluid/water 38establishes a diagonal flow from the bottom of the thirdseparation/partition wall 42C towards the top of the fourthseparation/partition wall 42D and right through the action zone ofacoustic pressure shock waves 10 produced by acoustic pressure shockwave devices 34 positioned at the top of acoustic pressure shock wavescleaning chamber 46. During this diagonal flow inside acoustic pressureshock waves cleaning chamber 46, contaminated liquid/fluid/water 38 iscleaned due to fact that coalesced particles fall at the bottom of thetank as a result of own weight and acoustic streaming force created byacoustic pressure shock waves 10 that overcomes the upward buoyancyforce produced by contaminated liquid/fluid/water 38. The downwardaction of acoustic pressure shock waves 10 combined with the downwardflow of contaminated liquid/fluid/water 38 will efficiently pushsuspended particles, sand, dissolved solids, soluble organics, microbialpollutants, dissolved gases, and radioactive materials from contaminatedliquid/fluid/water 38 towards the bottom of acoustic pressure shockwaves cleaning chamber 46, where particles are evacuated/collectedthrough sludge outlet 47A. After passing through the action zone ofacoustic pressure shock waves 10, partially decontaminatedliquid/fluid/water flows over the fourth separation/partition walls 42Dand enter connection pipe 81 that is transferring partiallydecontaminated liquid/fluid/water from parallelepipedic weirtank/separation tank 40 to the bottom-central part of gas flotationcylindrical tank 80. Gas flotation feed 66 introduces microscopic gasflotation bubbles inside rise tube 83 in which partially decontaminatedliquid/fluid/water together with microscopic gas flotation bubbles arecreating an upward gas flotation movement 88. During their upward gasflotation movement 88 inside rise tube 83, the microscopic gas flotationbubbles attach to remaining suspended particulates and oil droplets asthey rise towards the top of gas flotation cylindrical tank 80. Thisprocess creates a foamy/floating sludge 37 at the interface in betweenliquid/fluid/water and air at the top of gas flotation cylindrical tank80, which is skimmed using a half bridge scraper 84 and thenevacuated/collected via sludge outlet 47B. The bubbly liquid/fluid/waterhas the tendency to stay at the top of gas flotation cylindrical tank 80and the microscopic gas flotation bubbles just disintegrate in the airabove gas flotation cylindrical tank 80. However, the majority ofliquid/fluid/water is pushed towards the bottom of gas flotationcylindrical tank 80 in a downward liquid/fluid/water flow 89, whichforces partially cleaned liquid/fluid/water to move through the actionzone of acoustic pressure shock waves 10 produced by acoustic pressureshock wave devices 34 positioned relatively at the top of gas flotationparallelepipedic tank 65 and below the mixture of liquid/fluid/waterwith microscopic gas flotation bubbles and sludge 37 that accumulates atthe top of gas flotation cylindrical tank 80. This additional downwardforce, created by acoustic pressure shock waves 10, will overlap withthe normal downward flow of partially cleaned liquid/fluid/water, whichwill enhance the cleaning of remaining suspended particulates that willaccumulate as sludge 37 at the bottom of gas flotation cylindrical tank80. Sludge 37 is scrapped using a bottom scraper 85 towards the centralpart of the bottom of gas flotation cylindrical tank 80 and thenevacuated/collected via sludge outlet 47C when valve 68 is opened.Afterwards, decontaminated liquid/fluid/water 48 has an upwardliquid/fluid/water flow 35, and it is evacuated via filtration outlet 49(for further filtration/clarification). For gas flotation cylindricaltank 80, a part of decontaminated liquid/fluid/water 48 is collected vialiquid/fluid/water recirculation filter 74 and send via collection pipefor white water 86 to be reintroduced inside gas flotation cylindricaltank 80 using gas flotation feed 66, in order to produce microscopic gasflotation bubbles inside rise tube 83 (using a similar system to producemicroscopic gas flotation bubbles, as presented in detail in FIG. 7).

In the embodiment presented in FIG. 9, acoustic pressure shock waves 10can be used to push accumulated foam or foamy sludge 95 present at thetop of horizontal separation tank 90, without any moving mechanicalmeans, which can increase the system reliability (the absence of movingparts reduces the possibility of malfunctions). As presented in FIG. 2,the difference of acoustic speeds in between liquids/fluids/water medium11 and air/gaseous medium 20 can be advantageously used when acousticpressure shock waves 10 travel at the interface in between such mediums.Practically, when acoustic pressure shock waves 10 are generated alongthe interface in between liquid/fluid/water medium 11 and air/gaseousmedium 20, acoustic pressure shock waves 10 will move with acousticpressure shock wave velocity in liquids/fluids/water 16 of approximately1500 m/s, and with acoustic pressure shock wave velocity in air/gaseousmedium 21 of approximately 343 m/s, which creates a velocitydifferential, thus shear forces are generated at the interface/surfacethat separates liquid/fluid/water medium 11 from air/gaseous medium 20.These shear forces can be used to separate foam from mixture ofliquid/fluid/water and foam 98 or any floating sludge/residues/oil orgrease from wastewater or industrial processed/producedliquid/fluid/water.

Compared to the embodiments presented before in FIG. 3, FIG. 4, FIG. 5A,FIG. 5B, FIG. 5C, FIG. 6, FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 (where acoustic pressureshock waves 10 are vertical, moving either upwards or downwards), in theembodiment from FIG. 9, acoustic pressure shock wave devices 34 arehorizontal and oriented at the interface/surface that separatesliquid/fluid/water medium 11 from air/gaseous medium 20, in such a wayto have upper half of fronts of acoustic pressure shock waves 10 inair/gaseous medium 20 and their lower half in liquid/fluid/water medium11. Acoustic pressure shock wave devices 34 receive energy from acousticpressure shock wave generator 63 to produce acoustic pressure shockwaves 10 via high voltage discharge in between electrodes 59 and insideclean liquid/fluid/water propagation medium 58, encompassed by themembrane 57 and acoustic pressure shock wave reflector 92. The role ofacoustic pressure shock wave reflector 92 is to focus acoustic pressureshock waves along the interface/surface that separatesliquid/fluid/water medium 11 from air/gaseous medium 20. Acousticpressure shock wave devices 34 are kept in place and in sealed contactwith horizontal separation tank 90 by connecting and sealing assembly62. Mixture of liquid/fluid/water and foam 98 is introduced insidehorizontal separation tank 90 via mixture of liquid/fluid/water and foaminlet 91. Due to the difference of acoustic speed in betweenliquids/fluids/water medium 11 and air/gaseous medium 20, acousticpressure shock waves 10 move faster in liquids/fluids/water medium 11than in air/gaseous medium 20, which creates an acoustic streaming inwater from the left to the right, thus leaving behind foam or foamysludge 95 that is slowly and steady pushed towards foam or foamy sludgeslot/outlet 96 into foam or foamy sludge storage reservoir 97. Throughthis process, mixture of liquid/fluid/water and foam 98 is steadilycleaned of foam and foamy sludge 95 resulting in accumulation at thebottom of horizontal separation tank 90 of decontaminatedliquid/fluid/water 48, collected via decontaminated liquid/fluid/wateroutlet 93 and stored for further cleaning/filtration in decontaminatedliquid/fluid/water storage reservoir 94.

It is interesting to note that by using a horizontal set-up of acousticpressure shock wave devices 34, similar to the one presented in FIG. 9,the cleaning of sludge 37 accumulated at the top of gas flotationparallelepipedic tank 65 (from FIG. 6 or FIG. 7) or at the top of gasflotation cylindrical tank 80 (from FIG. 8) can be accomplished withoutthe use of moving scrapers 69 (from FIG. 6 or FIG. 7) or rotational halfbridge scrapers 84 (from FIG. 8). The employment of acoustic pressureshock waves 10 to push sludge 37, accumulated during the gas floatationprocess, eliminates any moving mechanical means/parts, which canincrease the system reliability (the absence of moving parts reduces thepossibility of malfunctions).

Acoustic pressure shock wave technology can help with the miscibility ofwater and oil, which can improve oil mobility during exploitationwithout addition of gas, solvents or polymers to water, as presented inU.S. Pat. No. 9,057,232. This has significant implications inelimination or percentage reduction of additives/pollutants fromfracking/wastewater, which can reduce the fracking process'environmental impact.

Based on the acoustic pressure shock wave technology effect onmiscibility of water with oil, specialized ellipsoidal acoustic shockwave tanks 51 (full ellipsoid), which are presented in embodiments fromFIG. 5B and FIG. 5C, can be used to generate significant cavitationaround the second focal point F₂ that can act at molecular level andproduce emulsification of oil with water at room temperature without theneed to heat up oil at low temperatures. The traditional methods of fuelproduction from oil are based on heating oil up to 67-70° C., whichrequires significant electric power inputs. Using cavitation produced byacoustic pressure shock wave technology in specialized ellipsoidalacoustic shock wave tanks 51, a significant power saving can beaccomplished. Regardless of direction of acoustic pressure shock waves10 (upward, as seen in FIG. 5B and FIG. 5C, or downward, which can beaccomplished if specialized ellipsoidal acoustic shock wave tanks 51 arerotated 180°) for an easier starting of miscibility process, a smallquantity of gas/air (for easier/jump start cavitation) might be presentinside specialized ellipsoidal acoustic shock wave tanks 51.Cavitational treatment of liquid hydrocarbon such as crude oil, fueloil, bitumen will reduce their viscosity and increase the yield of lightfraction extractable via subsequent atmospheric and/or vacuumdistillation.

Heavy crude oils can also benefit from acoustic pressure shock waves 10cavitational action in specialized ellipsoidal acoustic shock wave tanks51 (as presented in FIG. 5B and FIG. 5C). Practically, acoustic pressureshock waves 10 are employed in emulsification process/mixing of waterwith heavy oils/tars in order to drop their viscosity, for an easytransportation through hydrocarbon pipe network (similar to the lightoil) and significantly reduce transportation costs when compared totrucks hauling. For this process, cavitation produced by the tensilephase of acoustic pressure shock waves 10 plays the most important role.In order to create more cavitation, injected gas (nitrogen, carbondioxide, air, etc.) can be used into the cavitation region of acousticpressure shock waves 10, to act as cavitational seeds and to increasethe very small suspended gas droplets that have high specific surfacearea, which facilitates efficient emulsification of water with heavyoils/tars.

Furthermore, using cavitational bubble generated by acoustic pressureshock waves 10 and heavily produced around the second focal point F₂ ofspecialized ellipsoidal acoustic shock wave tanks 51 (see FIG. 5B andFIG. 5C) the following can be accomplished: neutralization of free fattyacids, acceleration of oxidative desulfurization, oil degumming andde-polymerization of fuel used by heavy trucks (resulting in smootherengine operation, increased fuel economy and reduced emission of ash andsoot).

Any of embodiments presented in FIG. 3, FIG. 4, FIG. 5A, FIG. 5B, FIG.5C, FIG. 6, FIG. 7, FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 can be used for contaminatedliquid/fluid/water 38 disinfection. In general, the disinfection processis fundamental to remove microorganisms and it can be accomplished bydifferent methods, such as use of ultraviolet (UV), ozone, activatedcarbon, and chemical substances (chlorine, hypochlorite, chloramines,chlorine dioxide, bromine). Acoustic pressure shock waves 10 generatehigh pressures and cavitational activity, which can killmicrobes/harmful micro-organisms that are found in wastewater orprocessed/produced contaminated liquid/fluid/water 38 (as presented inU.S. Pat. No. 8,685,317). The antimicrobial activity of the acousticpressure shock waves 10 will reduce contamination/bioburden ofwastewater or processed/produced liquid/fluid/water 38, with significantfinancial and environmental benefits. Acoustic pressure shock wavessystems (as those presented in FIG. 3, FIG. 4, FIG. 5A, FIG. 5B, FIG.5C, FIG. 6, FIG. 7, FIG. 8 and FIG. 9) can be used independently or incombination/synergistically with existing technologies such aschlorination, UV, ozone, activated carbon, etc. to enhance killing ofmiscellaneous microbes/harmful micro-organisms.

In systems similar to those presented in FIG. 3, FIG. 4, FIG. 5B, FIG.5C, FIG. 6, FIG. 7, FIG. 8 and FIG. 9, due to mechanical and acousticalenergy applied by acoustic pressure shock waves 10 to a reagent oractive chemical substance in a fluid form, the reagent/chemicalsubstance can easily be activated, which results in fast initiation ofdifferent chemical reactions, speed-up of chemical process, generatinghigh conversion rates with higher yields. In chemical industry, besidespromotion of chemical reaction of different liquids/fluids, acousticpressure shock waves 10 can activate heterogeneous phase transfercatalysts for organic synthesis, promote chemical degradation, catalystsreclamation and regeneration can also be achieved.

Water hardness is known as existence of bivalent and trivalent cations,such as calcium (Ca²⁺), magnesium (Mg²⁺), and in lower traces aluminum(Al²⁺, Al³⁺) and iron (Fe²⁺, Fe³⁺). Water hardness causes some problems,such as scale formation in pipes and in cooling towers, reaction withsoap and formation of hard foam, decreased heat exchange capacity andmembrane clogging. Conventional methods for hardness removal (also knownas water softening process) are lime-soda process, ion exchange,electro-coagulation, electro-dialysis, reverse osmosis andnano-filtration. Based on the same principle of initiation andfacilitation of different chemical reactions (mentioned above) for watersoftening process, acoustic pressure shock waves 10 (generated insystems similar to those presented in FIG. 3, FIG. 4, FIG. 5B, FIG. 5C,FIG. 6, FIG. 7, FIG. 8 and FIG. 9) can be used to facilitate minerals tocrystallize in water, so that they do not bind to surfaces. This can beachieved in the same time with wastewater or processed/producedcontaminated liquid/fluid/water 38 cleaning process, that uses acousticpressure shock waves 10 to remove suspended particles, sand, dissolvedsolids, soluble organics, microbial pollutants, dissolved gases, foam,etc., as presented in FIG. 3, FIG. 4, FIG. 5A, FIG. 5B, FIG. 5C, FIG. 6,FIG. 7, FIG. 8 and FIG. 9. Practically, acoustic pressure shock waves 10can speed-up chemical reactions by removing the cations and soften thewater, thus preventing scaling inside tubing/pipes used for circulatingliquid/fluids/waters.

Scale is a mineral deposit that can occur in tubing/pipes used forcirculating liquid/fluids/waters. Scale deposits occur when solutionequilibrium of liquid/fluid/water is disturbed by pressure andtemperature changes, dissolved gases or incompatibility between mixingliquids/fluids/waters or by liquid/fluid/water hardening. Whenliquid/fluid/water is not going through a softening process, aspresented above, hard foams and scales are already formed inside pipesand acoustic pressure shock wave technology can be used to break themdown through acoustic streaming, micro-streaming and cavitational jets,as presented in patent application US 2015/0337630.

Based on the lithotripsy experience (kidney stone fragmentation usingacoustic pressure shock wave technology), acoustic pressure shock waves10 are able to break, disturb and dislodge solid scale sediments, hardfoams, biofilms and sludge deposits that are present inside any pipes ortanks used in water management installations. Due to acoustic impedancemismatch between a fluid/liquid/water and a solid, and due to collapseof cavitation bubbles with micro-jets that are directed towards asolid/semi-solid surface, fragmentation/dislodging of solid scalesediments, hard foams, biofilms and sludge deposits is accomplished.

Acoustic pressure shock wave devices can also be used inliquid/fluid/water treatment installation to break sludge accumulated atthe bottom of treatment tanks during liquid/fluid/water cleaning byplacing acoustic pressure shock wave devices 34 very close to the bottomof cylindrical separation tanks 30, parallelepipedic weirtank/separation tanks 40, gas flotation parallelepipedic tanks 65, gasflotation cylindrical tanks 80 presented in FIG. 3, FIG. 4, FIG. 6, FIG.7 and FIG. 8. The objective is to break sludge 37 into minutiaparticles, which allows its dispersion, thus increasing enzymeactivity/biological degradation and produces less sludge 37 of which todispose. In conclusion, by varying the vertical position of acousticpressure shock wave devices 34 inside treatment tanks, eithercleaning/decontamination of contaminated liquid/fluid/water 38 can beaccomplished (acoustic pressure shock wave devices 34 placed at theliquid/fluid/water surface, or submerged, close to liquid/fluid/watersurface of treatment tanks) or dispersion of sludge 37 for easy removaland degradation can be done (acoustic pressure shock wave devices 34placed close to the bottom of treatment tanks).

After sludge 37 is produced and evacuated from various treatment tanks(as presented in FIG. 3, FIG. 4, FIG. 5A, FIG. 5B, FIG. 5C, FIG. 6, FIG.7, FIG. 8 and FIG. 9), it can undergo an activation process (for furthercleaning) and, finally, a dewatering process to reduce its mass(disposal of sludge is based on its weight, so the lower the mass/weightof sludge 37, the lower its disposal cost is achieved).

The sludge activation process is in general used for treating wastewateror contaminated liquid/fluid/water 38 or watery sludge 37 evacuated fromliquid/fluid/water cleaning process. With help of air and a biologicalfloc composed of bacteria and protozoa that feeds on organiccontaminants, activated sludge process is producing a high-qualityeffluent. The process involves air or oxygen being introduced into amixture of screened and primary treated wastewater or industrialcontaminated liquid/fluid/water 38 or watery sludge 37, combined withorganisms that grow and form particles clumping together to develop abiological floc, which reduces the organic content of wastewater orcontaminated liquid/fluid/water 38 or watery sludge 37. This mixture isstirred and injected with large quantities of air inside aeration tankor aerated basin system 100 (see FIG. 10), to provide oxygen and keepsolids in suspension. In all activated sludge plants, once wastewater orcontaminated liquid/fluid/water 38 or watery sludge 37 has receivedsufficient activation treatment, excess mixed liquor (combination ofwastewater or liquid/fluid/water and biological mass) is discharged intosettling tanks. In settling tanks, biological floc is allowed to settleto the bottom of the tank, leaving a relatively clear liquid free oforganic material and suspended solids (high-quality effluent). Thebacteria settle at the bottom of settling tanks, and partially cleanedwater flows on for further treatment. The resulting settled solids arepumped back to aeration tank or aerated basin system 100 to begin theprocess again by mixing with new incoming wastewater or contaminatedliquid/fluid/water 38 or watery sludge 37.

In some areas, where more land is available, wastewater or contaminatedliquid/fluid/water 38 or watery sludge 37 is treated in largesurface-round aeration tanks or aerated basins 100 (see FIG. 10) usingmotor-driven floating aerators, which provide the mixing required fordispersing the air (actual aeration) and for contacting the reactants(that is, oxygen, wastewater and microbes). Surface-aerated basinsachieve 80 to 90% removal of biological material with retention times of1 to 10 days and may range in depth from 1.5 to 5.0 meters. Biologicaloxidation processes are sensitive to temperature and, between 0° C. and40° C., the rate of biological reactions increase with temperature. Mostsurface-aerated basins operate in between 4° C. and 32° C. Typically,the floating surface aerators are rated to deliver sufficient amount ofair to produce sludge 37 activation. However, they do not provide asgood mixing, thus they have a low productivity.

In order to increase the efficiency of aeration tanks or aerated basinsystems 100 (see FIG. 10), acoustic pressure shock wave activationdevices 105 can be used. The performance of acoustic pressure shockwaves 10 for mixing and aeration of aeration tanks or aerated basinsystems 100 is far superior to the aerators, due to high pressuregradients generated by acoustic pressure shock waves 10 and presence ofcavitation produced by the tensile phase of acoustic pressure shockwaves 10. The most economical surface aeration tanks or aerated basinsystems 100 are made in the ground 101. In order to prevent wastewateror contaminated liquid/fluid/water 38 or watery sludge 37 (also calledmixed liquor 103) to exit aeration tanks or aerated basin systems 100during sludge activation, berms 102 are created all around theseaeration tanks or aerated basin systems 100. The acoustic pressure shockwave activation devices 105 are mounted on ring floats 104, and allowfloating of acoustic pressure shock wave activation devices 105 on topof mixed liquor 103. The ring floats 104 also assures that acousticpressure shock wave activation devices 105 produce acoustic pressureshock waves 10 very close to mixed liquor 103 surface, thus draws airtowards the bottom of aeration tanks or aerated basin systems 100 duringacoustic streaming, besides producing sludge mixing/activation 106.Acoustic pressure shock wave activation devices 105 can move manually orautomatically (via small driving motors controlled bymicroprocessors—not shown in FIG. 10) on the surface of mixed liquor 103in X (arrow) and Y (movement perpendicular to the plane of view)directions, in order to cover the whole area of aeration tanks oraerated basin systems 100, as seen in FIG. 10. Of course, one or two ormore acoustic pressure shock wave activation devices 105 can be used forincreased efficiency. The embodiment from FIG. 10 shows only acousticpressure shock wave activation devices 105 at work. However, in somesituation a combination of aerators with acoustic pressure shock waveactivation devices 105 can be used (not shown in FIG. 10) for uniformactivation across aeration tanks or aerated basin systems 100 and forfurther improvement in efficiency of sludge activation.

When coagulants and flocculants are used to separate suspended particlesfrom wastewater or processed/produced contaminated liquid/fluid/water38, an important amount of sludge 37 is created (as presented in FIG. 3,FIG. 4, FIG. 5A, FIG. 5B, FIG. 5C, FIG. 6, FIG. 7, FIG. 8 and FIG. 9),which needs to be reduced in volume (dewatering) and compacted fordisposal. Dewatering of residuals is the physical process of removingthe liquid/fluid/water content of sludge 37, to reduce its volume andconvert it from a liquid to a solid product through a variety ofdifferent pumping or filtering processes. Sludge 37 dewatering is usedto reduce the cost associated with transporting the waste residuals to adisposal site and the actual space taken in a landfill, simply due toless volume. Dewatered residuals are also easier to handle and thedewatering process not only affects the volume, but also the nutrientand odor levels of the material.

FIG. 11 is presenting an embodiment that uses acoustic pressure shockwaves 10 in a sludge dewatering tank 110. Sludge dewatering tank 110comprises of a tank body 111 inside of which a filter basket 112 isinstalled using suspension system 119. The inside of filter basket 112is lined on the interior with a cloth filter 113 and then the solidmatter that needs dewatering is filling two thirds of filter basket 112.The design of suspension system 119 creates a gap in between filterbasket 112 and tank body 111, which allows the product of dewatering,called filtrate flow 117, to freely flow through cloth filter 113 andall around filter basket 112. Naturally, when solid matter that needsdewatering is dumped inside filter basket 112, a sedimentation starts tooccur and liquid/fluid/water accumulates to the top of sludge dewateringtank 110, and sludge sediment 118 settles towards the bottom of filterbasket 112. In the mean time, filtrate flow 117 passes through clothfilter 113 and slowly drips from the top accumulation ofliquid/fluid/water, and it is flowing towards the bottom of sludgedewatering tank 110 from where it is collected for further cleaning orfiltration.

Using as driving forces only the gravitational force and the weight ofsludge sediment 118 it makes slow this dewatering process. Theseparation of liquid/fluid/water from solid matter that needs dewateringcan be expedited in a very efficient way using acoustic pressure shockwave dewatering devices 114 that produce acoustic pressure shock waves10. Due to the difference in propagation speed in betweenliquid/fluid/water (300 m/s) and solids (1500 m/s) of acoustic pressureshock waves 10, shear forces are produced, that allowsliquid/fluid/water to be “squeezed” more efficiently from solid matterusing high compressive pressures and acoustic cavitation generated byacoustic pressure shock waves 10. Due to the downward action of acousticpressure shock waves 10, a downward liquid/fluid/water/filtrate flow 116is created, which expedites dewatering process. Practically, thegravitational force and the weight of sludge sediment are supplementedby compressive forces of acoustic pressure shock waves 10. Furthermore,the shear forces produced by the difference in propagation speed ofacoustic pressure shock waves 10 in liquid/fluid/water (300 m/s) andsolids (1500 m/s) creates small vertical crevices inside sludge sediment118, allowing more consistent filtrate flow 117 towards the bottom offilter basket 112. It means that, when acoustic pressure shock wavedewatering devices 114 are used most of the flow during dewateringprocess, action/flow is from top to bottom (vertically) and notlaterally as it happens when natural sedimentation time is used in thedewatering systems and most of the liquid/fluid/water/filtrateaccumulate at the top of sludge dewatering tank 110.

The ring floats 104 are used to position acoustic pressure shock wavedewatering devices 114 at the surface of solid matter that needsdewatering, and also perform dewatering device movement 115 that can bedone manually or automatically via small driving motors controlled bymicroprocessors—not shown in FIG. 11. Dewatering device movement 115 isnecessary to deliver uniformly acoustic pressure shock waves 10 to theentire volume of the solid matter that needs dewatering. Finally, one ortwo or more of acoustic pressure shock wave dewatering devices 114 canbe used, based on the dimensions of sludge dewatering tank 110 and thedesired efficiency/dewatering speed.

To improve the solid content of waste sludge 37, inorganic (lime andferric salt) or organic (polymers) conditioners can be used. Another wayto produce conditioning of sludge 37 is the freeze/thaw treatment,enhancing dewatering characteristics without use of polymers, fact thathas environmental benefits. Direct, indirect and natural freeze/thawconditioning is able to transform bond water into free water that caneasily and more efficiently be removed by a mechanical method, asapplication of acoustic pressure shock waves 10. In a direct freezingprocess refrigerant is mixed directly with waste sludge 37, lessrecommended due to possibility of a contamination. For indirect freezingprocess, refrigerant is delivered through pipes inside waste sludge 37providing separation from waste sludge, and freezing process is done bya heat transfer in between pipes and sludge 37. Indirect freezingrequires some specialized equipment and pipe system and is the mostexpensive. Natural freezing is the most economic, but is highlydependent on weather conditions. In general, one freezing cycle isenough to obtain good results on sludge 37, performing more cycles isnot viable. The material thawing should be performed over a permeablemedia (like a sieve or a compost bed) or in a sludge dewatering tank110, as presented in FIG. 11, in order to let all filtrate flow 117 tomove away without being retained in the solidified sludge. Acousticpressure shock waves 10, delivered by acoustic pressure shock wavedewatering devices 114, can be used to push water in a certain zone ofsludge sediment 118, which allows the dewatering using freezing processto be more efficient. Due to the difference in propagation speed inbetween liquid/fluid/water (300 m/s) and solids (1500 m/s) of acousticpressure shock waves 10, shear forces are produced that allow freeliquid/fluid/water (produced by freeze/thaw conditioning) to be“squeezed” more efficiently from solid matter using high compressivepressures and acoustic cavitation generated by acoustic pressure shockwaves 10.

Oily sludges 37 are frequently generated in oil production or processingsites and cleaning systems, as those presented in FIG. 3, FIG. 4, FIG.5A, FIG. 5B, FIG. 5C, FIG. 6, FIG. 7, FIG. 8 and FIG. 9, and containdifferent concentrations of waste oil (40%-60%), wastewater (30%-90%)and mineral particles (5%-40%). The water is present in a highpercentage in oil droplets absorbed onto solid particles, thus creatinga protective layer in presence of surfactants forms emulsions, whichcreates difficulties in waste treatment processes and subsequently indewatering process. Demulsification treatments are necessary in order toreduce water from sludge 37, reduce its volume, save resources andprevent environmental pollution. Conventional demulsification techniquesinclude electrical, chemical, thermal, and mechanical methods. Acousticpressure shock waves 10 can be used to separate oil from wastewater (dueto their unidirectional acoustic streaming) in systems similar to thosepresented in FIG. 5A, FIG. 5B or FIG. 5C. For these systems from FIG.5A, FIG. 5B, FIG. 5C, the feed of oily sludge 37 should be done at thelower part of specialized ellipsoidal acoustic shock wave tanks 51 andunidirectional acoustic streaming generated by acoustic pressure shockwaves 10 should be in an upward direction, to produce demulsification ofoily sludge and then naturally accumulate demulsified oil above thewater at the top of specialized ellipsoidal acoustic shock wave tanks51. Pipes at the top of specialized ellipsoidal acoustic shock wavetanks 51 could then collect the oil. Also, systems similar to thosepresented in FIG. 6 can be adapted to push oil from the top ofspecialized ellipsoidal acoustic shock wave tanks 51 outside of thesetanks for further processing. The water extraction pipes should beplaced above the medium section of specialized ellipsoidal acousticshock wave tanks 51 and lower than those used for oil collection.

The freeze/thaw technique can be also used in the oily sludge treatmentand starting with lower oil content leads to better results. Direct,indirect and natural freeze processes can be applied in a directfreezing process (where refrigerant is mixed directly with brine, lessused due to possibility of a contamination) or in an indirect process(where refrigerant is separated from brine by a heat transfer surface).CO₂ has specific benefits in use as refrigerant due to it is limitlessavailability in our atmosphere and for the fact that it has no ozonedepletion potential with insignificant global warming potential (atleast in the small amounts used for the refrigeration process).Furthermore, CO₂ is a cheap, non poisonous and a non flammablerefrigerant. The acoustic pressure shock waves 10 can be used in thecase of freeze/thaw technique due to very fast separation of ice (frozenwater) from icy sludge (produced by acoustic streaming generated byacoustic pressure shock waves 10), which can significantly speed-up thedemulsification of oily sludge 37. Systems as those presented in FIG.5A, FIG. 5B, FIG. 5C can be used, where the feed of oily sludge 37should be done at the lower part of specialized ellipsoidal acousticshock wave tanks 51. These specialized tanks can have incorporated intheir walls the refrigeration system (cavities/spaces where refrigerantcan be circulated to produce freezing—not specifically showed in FIG. 5Band FIG. 5C). The freezing process can be controlled by specializedsystem (installed indoors inside dedicated stationary facilities wherespecialized ellipsoidal acoustic shock wave tanks 51 are mounted too) orby pumps module 53 and control and data panel 54 for mobile systems asthose presented in FIG. 5A. Due to the fact that water turns into ice at32° F./0° C. and crude oil is not (it gets thicker, but it is notactually freezing), after the freezing process, the unidirectionalacoustic streaming generated by acoustic pressure shock waves 10 shouldbe applied in an upward direction, to produce the separation of ice(frozen water) from icy oil sludge/slush. The icy/frozen water willaccumulate above icy oil sludge/slush at the top of specializedellipsoidal acoustic shock wave tanks 51. The icy/frozen water can thenbe extracted using pipes at the top of specialized ellipsoidal acousticshock wave tanks 51 using vacuum and the accumulation of oil can beextracted with pipes placed above the medium section of specializedellipsoidal acoustic shock wave tanks 51 and lower than those used foricy/frozen water collection. In another embodiment, the specializedellipsoidal acoustic shock wave tanks 51 can have in their upper partheating modalities (not specifically showed in FIG. 5B and FIG. 5C),which melt both icy/frozen water (extracted from the oil) and icy oilsludge/slush. In this case, the oil will move above the water, whichwill dictate the way collection pipes are positioned (the oil pipe willbe above the water pipe). Finally, systems similar to those presented inFIG. 6 can also be adapted to push the top floating substances from thetop of specialized ellipsoidal acoustic shock wave tanks 51 outside ofthese tanks for further processing.

Porous membrane/filter technologies are now widely accepted as suitablefor separation solids from liquids/fluids/waters, due to their highremoval capacity and ability to meet multiple liquid/fluid/water qualityobjectives. As presented in FIG. 12, during their use filtration porousmembranes/filters 120 have some operation problems, such as fouling andconcentration polarization of dissolved/soluble or nonsoluble particles124. Fouling degrades performance of filtration porous membrane/filter120, due to blocking/clogging of membrane/filter pores 121. The cost offouling in a filtration porous membrane/filter 120 application includesthe costs for filtration porous membrane/filter 120, cleaning itself,labor costs, down-time during cleaning costs, pretreatment costs(including biocides and other additives), an increased energy demand dueto higher trans-membrane/filter and tangential hydrodynamic resistance,and shortened lifetime of filtration porous membranes/filters 120. InFIG. 12 a filtration porous membrane/filter 120 is installed inside of afiltration pipe/conduit 122 for cleaning of liquid/fluid/water medium 11from dissolved/soluble or nonsoluble particles 124. In time,liquid/fluid/water frontal flow 125 produces accumulations ofdissolved/soluble or nonsoluble particles 124 at the surface offiltration porous membrane/filter 120. This is happening becausemembrane/filter pores 121 are designed to have a dimension that only letliquid/fluid/water particles 123 to pass through filtration porousmembrane/filter 120. Initially, due to clogging and later on fouling offiltration porous membrane/filter 120, liquid/fluid/water flow aftermembrane/filter 126 gradually reduces until becomes inexistent. Duringthe gradual clogging/fouling of filtration porous membrane/filter 120,some of dissolved/soluble or nonsoluble particles 124 may be pushedlaterally towards lateral evacuation pipe 127. Lateral exit fordissolved/soluble particles 128 may alleviate the clogging and foulingof filtration porous membrane/filter 120, but cannot completelyeliminate the clogging/fouling and also reduces the filtration systemefficiency, due to the fact that it provides an exit forliquid/fluid/water medium 11 without passing through the clogged/fouledfiltration porous membrane/filter 120.

The fouling problem of filtration porous membranes/filters 120 can beprevented or reduced by using advanced strategies such as acousticpressure shock waves 10 (see FIG. 13A and FIG. 13B), to increase thelife of filtration porous membrane/filter 120 and reduce/eliminatechemicals used to prevent fouling. The embodiment from FIG. 13A shows acleaning system that is using acoustic pressure shock waves 10 producedby acoustic pressure shock wave devices 34 for declogging of afiltration porous membrane/filter 120 when liquid/fluid/water flowsperpendicular to filtration porous membrane/filter 120 and acousticpressure shock waves devices 34 are placed after/behind filtrationporous membrane/filter 120. Practically, acoustic pressure shock waves10, using acoustic streaming, can push clogging/fouling particles(dissolved/soluble or nonsoluble particles 124) in preferred directionsin an online operation (can be used during filtration time), without anysecondary pollutants, transportation, handling problems or installationshut down (eliminates the installation down-time necessary for manual orchemical cleaning process). The positioning of acoustic pressure shockwave devices 34 after/behind filtration porous membrane/filter 120allows acoustic pressure shock waves 10 to push dissolved/solublethrough membrane/filter pores 121 or nonsoluble particles 124 push awayfrom filtration porous membrane/filter 120, thus allowingliquid/fluid/water particles 123 to easier pass through filtrationporous membrane/filter 120, which translates in a largerliquid/fluid/water flow after membrane/filter 126. Furthermore, acousticpressure shock waves 10 action, which is against/opposite to directionof liquid/fluid/water frontal flow 125 produces a stirring ofdissolved/soluble or nonsoluble particles 124 in front of filtrationporous membrane/filter 120, that can push dissolved/soluble ornonsoluble particles 124 towards lateral evacuation pipe 127. Thelateral exit for dissolved/soluble particles 128, combined with acousticpressure shock waves 10 actions, may efficiently prevent clogging andfouling of filtration porous membrane/filter 120.

For the filtration system presented in FIG. 13A, acoustic pressure shockwave devices 34 are placed on pivot 130, which allows them tocontinuously have a motorized pivoting movement 131 during theirservice, so that acoustic pressure shock wave devices 34 can sendacoustic pressure shock waves 10 on an angle range of differentdirections, which allows a larger area cleaning on filtration porousmembrane/filter 120. In this way, the cleaning efficiency is increasedand also a minimal number of acoustic pressure shock wave devices 34 canbe used in comparison to stationary designs. The motorized pivotingmovement 131 can be automatically controlled by a softwarecontroller/microprocessor (for simplicity and clarity, not specificallyshown in FIG. 13A) that can have different setting regimens based on thevalue of flow inside filtration pipe/conduit 122 or the contaminationlevel from liquid/fluid/water medium 11 or the value of membrane/filterpores 121. For stationary systems (not having continuously moving partscreates more reliability in time), before the system is started, pivot130 can be used to manually adjust for an optimal angle position ofacoustic pressure shock wave devices 34 based on the necessity of eachspecific cleaning cycle.

FIG. 13B shows an embodiment of this invention illustrating use ofacoustic pressure shock wave devices 34 for declogging and removal offouling from a filtration porous membrane/filter 120 whenliquid/fluid/water flows perpendicular to filtration porousmembrane/filter 120 and acoustic pressure shock waves 10 are deliveredparallel/tangential to filtration porous membrane/filter 120.Positioning of acoustic pressure shock wave devices 34parallel/tangential relatively to filtration porous membrane/filter 120allows acoustic pressure shock waves 10 to push dissolved/soluble ornonsoluble particles 124 away from filtration porous membrane/filter 120and towards lateral evacuation pipe 127. In order to keep as much aspossible the active surface of filtration porous membrane/filter 120,acoustic pressure shock wave device 34 sits on support 133, insidededicated space for acoustic pressure shock wave device 132, builtlaterally/on the side of filtration pipe/conduit 122. Acoustic pressureshock waves 10, acting parallel/tangential to filtration porousmembrane/filter surface 120, allow liquid/fluid/water particles 123 toeasier pass through filtration porous membrane/filter 120, whichtranslates in a larger liquid/fluid/water flow after membrane/filter126. Furthermore, acoustic pressure shock waves 10 action, perpendicularto direction of liquid/fluid/water frontal flow 125, may produce acircular movement/stirring of dissolved/soluble or nonsoluble particles124 in front of filtration porous membrane/filter 120 that can even morekeep away dissolved/soluble or nonsoluble particles 124 frommembrane/filter pores 121 and pushes them towards lateral evacuationpipe 127. Lateral exit for dissolved/soluble particles 128 mayefficiently prevent clogging and fouling of filtration porousmembrane/filter 120. However, attention must be paid to the intensity ofacoustic pressure shock waves 10 in such way to not disrupt the actualfiltration process (to not produce a significant disturbance ofliquid/fluid/water frontal flow 125).

The filtration system from FIG. 14 has a liquid/fluid/water tangentialflow, relative to membrane/filter 140, and filtration porousmembrane/filter 120 is installed on the side of a filtrationpipe/conduit 122 and not perpendicular to the flow, as was presented inFIG. 12, FIG. 13A and FIG. 13B. The cleaning of liquid/fluid/watermedium 11 from dissolved/soluble or nonsoluble particles 124 isaccomplished by a lateral flow of liquid/fluid/water particles 123through filtration porous membrane/filter 120. In time, an accumulationof dissolved/soluble or nonsoluble particles 124 at the surface offiltration porous membrane/filter 120 can occur, which is producingclogging/fouling of filtration porous membrane/filter 120. This ishappening because membrane/filter pores 121 are designed to have adimension that let to pass only liquid/fluid/water particles 123 throughfiltration porous membrane/filter 120. Initially, due to clogging and,later on, fouling of filtration porous membrane/filter 120,liquid/fluid/water flow after membrane/filter 126 reduces gradually,until it becomes inexistent.

To address the fouling issue of filtration porous membranes/filters 120from FIG. 14, a cleaning system that is using acoustic pressure shockwaves 10 produced by acoustic pressure shock wave devices 34 can be usedfor declogging of a filtration porous membrane/filter 120 whenliquid/fluid/water tangential flow 140 is parallel/tangential tofiltration porous membrane/filter 120 and acoustic pressure shock wavesdevices 34 are placed after/behind filtration porous membrane/filter 120(see FIG. 15A). Practically, acoustic pressure shock waves 10, usingacoustic streaming, can push the clogging/fouling particles(dissolved/soluble or nonsoluble particles 124) in preferred directionsin an online operation. The positioning of acoustic pressure shock wavedevices 34 after/behind filtration porous membrane/filter 120 allowsacoustic pressure shock waves 10 to push away through membrane/filterpores 121 the dissolved/soluble or nonsoluble particles 124 fromfiltration porous membrane/filter 120, thus allowing liquid/fluid/waterparticles 123 to pass easier through filtration porous membrane/filter120, which translates in a larger liquid/fluid/water flow aftermembrane/filter 126. Furthermore, acoustic pressure shock waves 10action is dislodging dissolved/soluble or nonsoluble particles 124 fromfiltration porous membrane/filter 120 and liquid/fluid/water tangentialflow 140 also has the tendency to move dissolved/soluble or nonsolubleparticles 124 away from filtration porous membrane/filter 120, whichefficiently prevent clogging and fouling of filtration porousmembrane/filter 120.

For the filtration system presented in FIG. 15A (similar to the onepresented in FIG. 13A), acoustic pressure shock wave devices 34 areplaced on pivot 130, which allows them to continuously have a motorizedpivoting movement 131 during their service, and in this way acousticpressure shock wave devices 34 can send acoustic pressure shock waves 10on a angle range of different directions, which allows the cleaning of alarger area on filtration porous membrane/filter 120. In this way, thecleaning efficiency is increased and also a minimal number of acousticpressure shock wave devices 34 can be used, in comparison to stationarydesigns. Motorized pivoting movement 131 can be automatically controlledby a software controller/microprocessor (for simplicity and clarity, notspecifically shown in FIG. 15A) that can have different settingregimens, based on the value of liquid/fluid/water tangential flow 140inside filtration pipe/conduit 122 or the contamination level fromliquid/fluid/water medium 11 or value of membrane/filter pores 121. Forstationary systems (not having continuously moving parts creates morereliability in time), before the system is started, pivot 130 can beused to manually adjust for an optimal angle position of acousticpressure shock wave devices 34 based on the necessity of each specificcleaning cycle.

FIG. 15B shows an embodiment of this invention illustrating use ofacoustic pressure shock wave devices 34 for declogging and removal offouling from a filtration porous membrane/filter 120 whenliquid/fluid/water tangential flow 140 is parallel/tangential tofiltration porous membrane/filter 120, and acoustic pressure shock waves10 are delivered parallel/tangential to filtration porousmembrane/filter 120 surface and in the same direction asliquid/fluid/water tangential flow 140. Conversely, acoustic pressureshock wave devices 34 can be placed relatively to filtration porousmembrane/filter 120 in such way to deliver acoustic pressure shock waves10 against liquid/fluid/water tangential flow 140 (not depicted in aseparate figure). By having acoustic pressure shock waves 10 going in anopposite direction from liquid/fluid/water tangential flow 140, astirring of dissolved/soluble or nonsoluble particles 124 is produced infront of filtration porous membrane/filter 120, which can also help withfouling matter declogging/cleaning from the surface of filtration porousmembrane/filter 120. In conclusion, the parallel/tangential positioningof acoustic pressure shock wave devices 34 relatively to filtrationporous membrane/filter 120 (using support flange 150 attached to wall offiltration pipe/conduit 122) allows acoustic pressure shock waves 10 topush away dissolved/soluble or nonsoluble particles 124 from filtrationporous membrane/filter 120 and in the direction of liquid/fluid/watertangential flow 140. The acoustic pressure shock waves 10 actingparallel/tangential to the surface of filtration porous membrane/filter120 allow liquid/fluid/water particles 123 to pass easier throughfiltration porous membrane/filter 120, which translates in a largerliquid/fluid/water flow after membrane/filter 126. Furthermore, for theembodiment depicted in FIG. 15B, the acoustic pressure shock waves 10action, which is in the same direction as liquid/fluid/water tangentialflow 140, may produce a speed-up of dissolved/soluble or nonsolubleparticles 124 in front of filtration porous membrane/filter 120, thateven more can keep away dissolved/soluble or nonsoluble particles 124from membrane/filter pores 121, thus it not allows them to clog/foulfiltration porous membrane/filter 120.

The embodiment from FIG. 16 represents a filtration module 160illustrating use of acoustic pressure shock waves 10 fordeclogging/fouling elimination of a filtration porous membrane/filter120 when the acoustic pressure shock wave devices are placed bothperpendicular/frontal (frontal acoustic pressure shock wave devices 164)and tangential (tangential acoustic pressure shock wave devices 165) tothe surface of filtration porous membrane/filter 120. Frontal acousticpressure shock wave devices 164 and tangential acoustic pressure shockwave devices 165 have similar construction as acoustic pressure shockwave devices 34 presented in FIG. 9 (acoustic pressure shock wavereflector 92, membrane 57, clean liquid/fluid/water propagation medium58, membrane 57, and electrodes 59). Also, for simplicity, acousticpressure shock wave generators 63 were not shown in FIG. 16. In thiscase, liquid/fluid/water medium 11 that needs filtration will enterfiltration module 160 via filtration liquid/fluid/water inlet 161.Filtration porous membrane/filter 120 separates filtration module 160 intwo separate chambers—the upper chamber 162 and the lower chamber 163.In upper chamber 162, acoustic pressure shock waves 10 produced byfrontal acoustic pressure shock wave devices 164 are providing thenecessary pressurization of the liquid/fluid/water medium 11 and thuspushing it through filtration porous membrane/filter 120. The acousticpressure shock waves 10, produced by frontal acoustic pressure shockwave devices 164, can pass through filtration porous membrane/filter 120and continue to push filtered liquid/fluid/water medium 11 towards cleanliquid/fluid/water collection outlet 167. In the same upper chamber 162,acoustic pressure shock waves 10 produced by tangential acousticpressure shock wave devices 165 are providing the push ofclogging/fouling particles towards fouling evacuation outlet 166, thuscontinuously cleaning filtration porous membrane/filter 120. Thus, upperchamber 162 is the space where filtration and foul cleaning happens, dueto strong action of acoustic pressure shock waves 10. The lower chamber163 serves more as a reservoir where the clean liquid/fluid/water iscollected after filtration porous membrane/filter 120 due to the actionof acoustic pressure shock waves 10 produced by frontal acousticpressure shock wave devices 164. As seen in FIG. 16, one frontalacoustic pressure shock wave device 164 and one tangential acousticpressure shock wave devices 165 could be used. However, more than one ofthese devices can be used based on the specificity of the filtrationprocess. It is interesting to note that frontal acoustic pressure shockwave device 164 direction of action matches the flow direction ofliquid/fluid/water medium 11, which is opposite to embodiments presentedin FIG. 13A and FIG. 15A, where the direction of acoustic pressure shockwaves 10 was either against liquid/fluid/water frontal flow 125 (forFIG. 13A), or perpendicular to liquid/fluid/water tangential flow 140(for FIG. 15A). These finds show the versatility of acoustic pressureshock wave technology in accomplishing the desired goals and use ofunidirectional action of acoustic pressure shock waves 10 to preciselymove liquid/fluid/water in specific directions, towards and throughdesignated targets.

The embodiments from FIG. 12, FIG. 13A, FIG. 13B, FIG. 14, FIG. 15A,FIG. 15B and FIG. 16 have filtration porous membrane/filter 120positioned either perpendicular (ninety degrees angle) to the axis offiltration pipe/conduit 122/filtration module 160 (FIG. 12, FIG. 13A,FIG. 13B and FIG. 16), or parallel/tangential (zero degrees angle) tothe axis of filtration pipe/conduit 122 (FIG. 14, FIG. 15A, and FIG.15B). Besides these more classical approaches to position filtrationporous membrane/filter 120 inside filtration pipe/conduit 122 orfiltration module 160, there are options where the membrane is placed atan angle between 90° and 0° (acute angle) relative to the axis offiltration pipe/conduit 122, as presented in FIG. 17. In this case,filtration porous membrane/filter 120 is placed at 45° degreesmembrane/filter angle 176. Under the action of velocity/pressure/forceof liquid/fluid/water 170 and acoustic pressure shock wavepressure/force 173 produced by acoustic pressure shock wave devices 34(placed perpendicularly to the liquid/fluid/water path and beforefiltration porous membrane/filter 120), and due to the 45° angle offiltration porous membrane/filter 120 relatively to the axis offiltration pipe/conduit 122, the two forces project in force componentsalong filtration porous membrane/filter 120 surface (tangentialvelocity/pressure/force of liquid/fluid/water 171 and tangentialacoustic pressure shock wave pressure/force 174) and force componentsperpendicular to filtration porous membrane/filter 120 (normalvelocity/pressure/force of liquid/fluid/water 172 and normal acousticpressure shock wave pressure/force 175). When force components' actionsare analyzed for each direction, interesting conclusions can be drawn.In FIG. 17, if the velocity/pressure/force of liquid/fluid/water 170 andacoustic pressure shock wave pressure/force 173 are comparable in value,then the tangential force components along the surface of filtrationporous membrane/filter 120 (tangential velocity/pressure/force ofliquid/fluid/water 171 and tangential acoustic pressure shock wavepressure/force 174) consistently move fouling agents/particles towardsthe edges of filtration porous membrane/filter 120, which can help onkeeping clean the membrane's central part and produce proper filtration.If lateral evacuation pipes 127 (see FIG. 12, FIG. 13A and FIG. 13B) orfouling evacuation outlet 166 (see FIG. 16) are present, then thefouling agents/particles are continuously pushed outside filtrationpipe/conduit 122 or filtration module 160, which insures a long utilitylife for filtration porous membrane/filter 120, due to its efficientremoval of clogging/fouling substances. The normal force components,acting perpendicular to filtration porous membrane/filter 120 (normalvelocity/pressure/force of liquid/fluid/water 172 and normal acousticpressure shock wave pressure/force 175), are adding together and createa large force that pushes more efficiently liquid/fluid/water medium 11through filtration porous membrane/filter 120. In conclusion, it seemsthat a filtration porous membrane/filter 120 placed on an acute anglerelatively to the axis of filtration pipe/conduit 122/filtration module160 helps both with the online fouling cleaning operation (can be usedduring filtration time) and with the filtration efficiency (due toaddition of normal force components).

In FIG. 18, the influence of low velocity/pressure/force ofliquid/fluid/water 170 on declogging/antifouling process (compared tohigh velocity/pressure/force of liquid/fluid/water 170 illustrated inFIG. 17), when a filtration porous membrane/filter 120 is positioned atangle of 45 degrees membrane/filter angle 176 relatively to the axis offiltration pipe/conduit 122 and acoustic pressure shock wave device 34are placed perpendicular to the liquid/fluid/water path and beforefiltration porous membrane/filter 120. Similar to the embodiment fromFIG. 17, low velocity/pressure/force of liquid/fluid/water 180 andacoustic pressure shock wave pressure/force 173 (similar to the one fromFIG. 17) project in force components along the surface of filtrationporous membrane/filter 120 (tangential velocity/pressure/force ofliquid/fluid/water 171 and tangential acoustic pressure shock wavepressure/force 174) and force components perpendicular to filtrationporous membrane/filter 120 (normal velocity/pressure/force ofliquid/fluid/water 172 and normal acoustic pressure shock wavepressure/force 175). In this case, tangential velocity/pressure/force ofliquid/fluid/water 171 is smaller than tangential acoustic pressureshock wave pressure/force 174, which creates a more significant movementof fouling agents/particles towards the lower part of filtration porousmembrane/filter 120. If lateral evacuation pipes 127 (see FIG. 12, FIG.13A and FIG. 13B) or fouling evacuation outlet 166 (see FIG. 16) areplaced at the bottom of filtration porous membrane/filter 120, then thefouling agents are continuously pushed outside filtration pipe/conduit122 or filtration module 160, which insures a long utility life forfiltration porous membrane/filter 120, due to its efficient removal ofclogging/fouling substances. The normal force components actingperpendicular to filtration porous membrane/filter 120 (normalvelocity/pressure/force of liquid/fluid/water 172 and normal acousticpressure shock wave pressure/force 175) are adding together to create alarge force that pushes more efficiently liquid/fluid/water medium 11through the filtration porous membrane/filter 120. In conclusion, whenlow velocity/pressure/force of liquid/fluid/water 180 and largeracoustic pressure shock wave pressure/force 173 act on filtration porousmembrane/filter 120 placed on an acute angle relatively to the axis offiltration pipe/conduit 122/filtration module 160, it helps both withthe online fouling cleaning operation (if lateral evacuation pipes 127(see FIG. 12, FIG. 13A and FIG. 13B) or fouling evacuation outlet 166(see FIG. 16) are placed in the correct location—at the bottom offiltration porous membrane/filter 120), and also with the filtrationefficiency (due to addition of normal force components).

In FIG. 19 it is analyzed the influence of a filtration porousmembrane/filter 120 orientation relatively to the axis of filtrationpipe/conduit 122 (45 degrees membrane/filter angle 176 or 30 degreesmembrane/filter angle 190) on declogging process, when acoustic pressureshock wave devices 34 are placed perpendicular to the liquid/fluid/waterpath and before filtration porous membrane/filter 120. The almost equalvelocity/pressure/force of liquid/fluid/water 170 and acoustic pressureshock wave pressure/force 173 project in force components along thesurface of filtration porous membrane/filter 120 as tangentialvelocity/pressure/force of liquid/fluid/water 171A1 and tangentialacoustic pressure shock wave pressure/force 174A1 for the 45 degreeorientation of filtration porous membrane/filter 120, and in tangentialvelocity/pressure/force of liquid/fluid/water 171A2 and tangentialacoustic pressure shock wave pressure/force 174A2 for the 30 degreeorientation of filtration porous membrane/filter 120. Correspondingly,the force components perpendicular to filtration porous membrane/filter120 are the normal velocity/pressure/force of liquid/fluid/water 172A1and normal acoustic pressure shock wave pressure/force 175A1 for the 45degree orientation of filtration porous membrane/filter 120 and intangential velocity/pressure/force of liquid/fluid/water 172A2 andtangential acoustic pressure shock wave pressure/force 175A2 for the 30degree orientation of filtration porous membrane/filter 120. Thetangential force components along filtration porous membrane/filter 120surface for the 45 degree orientation of filtration porousmembrane/filter 120 are almost equal and give uniform movement to thefouling agents/particles towards the edges of filtration porousmembrane/filter 120 (as presented in FIG. 17). When the 30 degreeorientation of filtration porous membrane/filter 120 is used, then thetangential velocity/pressure/force of liquid/fluid/water 171A2 is largerthan the tangential acoustic pressure shock wave pressure/force 174A2,which creates a more significant movement of fouling agents/particlestowards the upper part of filtration porous membrane/filter 120. Iflateral evacuation pipes 127 (see FIG. 12, FIG. 13A and FIG. 13B) orfouling evacuation outlet 166 (see FIG. 16) are placed at the upper partof filtration porous membrane/filter 120, then the fouling agents arecontinuously pushed outside the filtration pipe/conduit 122 orfiltration module 160, which insures a long utility life for filtrationporous membrane/filter 120, due to its efficient removal of theclogging/fouling substances. For both angles (45 or 30 degrees), thenormal force components 172A1 and 175A1 (for 45 degrees angle) or 172A2and 175A2 (for 30 degrees angle) are adding together to create a largerforce that pushes more efficiently liquid/fluid/water medium 11 throughfiltration porous membrane/filter 120. In conclusion, it seems that theangle of filtration porous membrane/filter 120 can change the directionin which fouling/agents/particles move at the surface of filtrationporous membrane/filter 120 when acoustic pressure shock waves 10 areused. However, regardless of the angle of filtration porousmembrane/filter 120 relative to the axis of filtration pipe/conduit122/filtration module 160, it helps both with the online foulingcleaning operation (can be used during filtration time) and with thefiltration efficiency (due to addition of normal force components). Inthis way, a double action is accomplished at the surface and throughfiltration porous membrane/filter 120, using a single acoustic pressureshock wave device 34, instead of dedicated devices for each specificaction on filtration porous membrane/filter 120, as presented in FIG.13A, FIG. 13B, FIG. 15A, FIG. 15B, and FIG. 16.

The acoustic pressure shock waves 10 can be periodically or continuouslyapplied for cleaning of filtration porous membranes/filters 120 fromclogging/fouling particles (dissolved/soluble or nonsoluble particles124), thus prolonging their life and reduce the pressure necessary topush liquid through respective filtration porous membranes/filters 120.For the intermittent cleaning, the regimen of action and pause times canbe determined based on specific application and based on the necessarygrade of cleaning/foul elimination, to allow normal function offiltration porous membranes/filters 120. The intermittent cycles can beperformed manually or automatically, controlled via a softwarecontroller/microprocessor (for simplicity, not specifically shown inFIG. 13A, FIG. 13B, FIG. 15A, FIG. 15B, FIG. 16, FIG. 17, FIG. 18, orFIG. 19) that can have different setting regimens based on the value ofthe flow inside filtration pipe/conduit 122, or the contamination levelfrom liquid/fluid/water medium 11, or the value of membrane/filter pores121.

For embodiments presented in FIG. 13A, FIG. 13B, FIG. 15A, FIG. 15B,FIG. 16, FIG. 17, FIG. 18, or FIG. 19, the number of acoustic pressureshock wave devices 34 used to perform the continuous or intermittentcleaning of filtration porous membrane/filter 120 depends on the surfaceand the shape of the respective filtration porous membrane/filter 120,and the contamination level from liquid/fluid/water medium 11. Thus, thenumber of acoustic pressure shock wave devices 34 can vary from one, twoor more, which is dictated by the specificity of each filtrationapplication. For the embodiment from FIG. 13B, FIG. 15B and FIG. 16, itis interesting to note that when multiple acoustic pressure shock wavedevices 34, 164 or 165 are used, the devices must be placed at differentangular position (30, 60, 45, 90 degrees) relatively to each other, thefiltration system should also have a similar or less number (as theacoustic pressure shock wave devices 34, 164 or 165) of lateralevacuation pipes 127 or fouling evacuation outlet 166.

For all systems presented in FIG. 13A, FIG. 13B, FIG. 15A, FIG. 15B,FIG. 16, FIG. 17, FIG. 18, or FIG. 19, the output energy for acousticpressure shock waves 10 is suitably adjusted in such way to producecontinuous or intermittent cleaning of filtration porous membrane/filter120, without producing any loss of integrity/harm to filtration porousmembrane/filter 120 as pitting, tear, deformation, etc.

For all systems presented in FIG. 13A, FIG. 13B, FIG. 15A, FIG. 15B,FIG. 16, FIG. 17, FIG. 18, or FIG. 19, acoustic pressure shock waves 10can be used to reduce fouling of filtration porous membranes/filters120, regardless of the size of dissolved/soluble or nonsoluble particles124, which makes shock wave technology applicable for filtration,micro-filtration, ultra-filtration and nano-filtration. Even more, theacoustic pressure shock waves can act on any type of filter/membraneregardless of the material used in their construction (polymers, metals,ceramics, etc.).

The embodiments presented in FIG. 13A, FIG. 13B, FIG. 15A, FIG. 15B,FIG. 16, FIG. 17, FIG. 18, or FIG. 19 can also use acoustic pressureshock waves 10 to disturb and dislodge particulate matter/biofilms thatproduce biofouling, in a similar way and application as presented abovefor normal fouling produced by non-living substances (inorganic ororganic). Practically, due to antibacterial properties of acousticpressure shock waves 10 and their destruction/removal effect on biofilmstructures formed by bacteria, the filtration systems that use acousticpressure shock wave devices 34 will be very efficient againstbiofouling. Also, acoustic pressure shock waves 10 can enhance thedissolution of substances/bio-matter trapped on filtration porousmembrane/filter 120 surfaces. In the same time, acoustic pressure shockwaves 10 can enhance disinfection of distribution systems due to thepresence of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) and hydroxyl free radicals (OH⁻)generated by the cavitational phase of acoustic pressure shock waves 10.

As described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,685,317, the acoustic pressure shockwaves 10 can kill bacteria, viruses and micro-organisms that can befound in liquid/fluid/water mediums. Based on teachings of said patent,acoustic pressure shock waves 10 can be used to kill differentmicro-organisms from liquid/fluid/water, which combined with filtrationand other existent technologies, can render liquids/fluids/waters to beused for human consumption or produce sterilized liquids/fluids/watersfor medical and food industries. For some pharmaceutical processes,ultra-purified liquids/fluids/waters must be used and acoustic pressureshock waves devices 34 and specialized systems (similar to thosepresented in FIG. 3, FIG. 4, FIG. 5A, FIG. 5B, FIG. 5C, FIG. 6, FIG. 7,FIG. 8 and FIG. 9) can be used into the ultra-purification processes,based on their reactivity towards any impurities, facilitation ofchemical reactions and prevention of fouling of ultra-filtrationmembranes (as presented in FIG. 13A, FIG. 13B, FIG. 15A, FIG. 15B, FIG.16, FIG. 17, FIG. 18 and FIG. 19). Acoustic pressure shock waves systems(as those presented in FIG. 3, FIG. 4, FIG. 5A, FIG. 5B, FIG. 5C, FIG.6, FIG. 7, FIG. 8, FIG. 9, FIG. 13A, FIG. 13B, FIG. 15A, FIG. 15B, FIG.16, FIG. 17, FIG. 18 and FIG. 19) can be used independently or incombination/synergistically with existing technologies such aschlorination, UV, ozone, activated carbon, etc., to enhance the killingof different microbes/harmful micro-organisms.

Acoustic pressure shock waves 10 can be also used to clean the foulingof already clogged filtration porous membrane/filter 120 during theircleaning process. Use of mobile acoustic pressure shock wave devices 34to produce acoustic pressure shock waves 10 inside a cleaning bath canexpedite/accelerate the removal of clogging/fouling particles(dissolved/soluble or nonsoluble particles 124).

In the cases where biocides are employed to clean biofouling fromfiltration porous membrane/filter 120 that are left in place infiltration systems (not removed from systems as those presented in FIG.12, FIG. 13A, FIG. 13B, FIG. 14, FIG. 15A, FIG. 15B, FIG. 16, FIG. 17,FIG. 18 and FIG. 19), the acoustic pressure shock waves 10 can be usedto enhance the biocide effect and also to remove residues left on thesurface of filtration porous membrane/filter 120, which helps withcleaning of byproducts, and generate a more efficient biofilm removaland rinse-out of dead bacteria or biofilm/biofouling small fragments. Infact, acoustic pressure shock waves 10 can produce a mechanical cleaningand destruction without direct contact used with other mechanicalcleaning means such as brushes, cleaning pigs, etc. Acoustic pressureshock waves 10 elimination of fouling/biofilms can be used inconjunction with any other existing technology, as an addition or toenhance the effects of a designated technology, as mentioned above. Theeconomical advantage of acoustic pressure shock wave technology comesfrom possible elimination of chemical or complex substances used forfouling treatment that need to be filtered afterwards, or can be harmfulto the environment. Also, acoustic pressure shock waves 10 arerelatively inexpensive in energy consumptions and have high energyefficiency during their transfer towards targeted area.

A reverse osmosis system is presented as prior art in FIG. 20. Forreversed osmosis process, a semi-permeable reverse osmosis membrane 204allows water to diffuse from one side to the other side of reverseosmosis vessel 200. When the liquid on one side of the semi-permeablereverse osmosis membrane 204 is saltier than the other side (saltwater/industrial brine 202 on the left side compared to pure water 206on the right side of the reverse osmosis vessel 200), fresh water 206diffuses through semi-permeable reverse osmosis membrane 204 from theless concentrated to the more concentrates side (right side towards theleft side of reverse osmosis vessel 200). This process, which tends toequalize the saltiness of the two solutions, is called osmosis and theflow is called osmotic flow. The osmosis can be stopped by applyingpressure to salt water/industrial brine 202 to the influx of watermolecules from the fresh water 206. The pressure required (equal in sizeand opposite in direction to the pressure exerted by osmosis) is knownas applied osmotic pressure 201. Applying pressure greater than theosmotic pressure does not simply stop the osmosis, but just creates areverse osmosis, which uses semi-permeable reverse osmosis membrane 204to trap salt particles 203. The direction of salt water/industrial brineflow 205 is from salt water/industrial brine 202 towards pure water 206.Practically, the salty liquid becomes even more concentrated and purewater builds up on the other side of semi-permeable reverse osmosismembrane 204 and pure water collection/evacuation 207 is accomplished.

In practice, reverse osmosis is applied in systems similar to the onepresented in FIG. 21 as a prior art, where special designed reverseosmosis membrane elements/cartridges 212 are incorporated in pressurevessels 211 to create a reverse osmosis array 210. Practically, thesystem presented in FIG. 21 has four pressure vessels 211, each of themhas five reverse osmosis membrane elements/cartridges 212 that create afour pressure vessels times five membrane elements array. Reverseosmosis membrane elements/cartridges 212 are tubular elements that havea spiral rolled semi-permeable reverse osmosis membrane 204 capable toseparate salt and minerals from salt water/industrial brine 202, thusproducing desalinated water 215. Salt water/industrial brine 202 entersthe system via the salt water/industrial brine from pre-treatment inlet213, and it is pumped by high pressure pump 214 towards pressure vessels211 and reverse osmosis membrane elements/cartridges 212, where thereverse osmosis process takes place. In order for high pressure pump 214to produce the high pressures necessary for pushing saltwater/industrial brine 202 through reverse osmosis membraneelements/cartridges 212, there is significant energy consumption, one ofthe major drawbacks of this system. Also significant is the cost ofosmosis membrane elements/cartridges 212, driven by the cost ofsemi-permeable reverse osmosis membrane 204 and its high pressureresistance construction. At the distal end (right end) of pressurevessels 211, filtered desalinated water 215 is collected and senttowards post-treatment outlet 216 for eventual further processing(filtration, disinfection, etc.). On same distal end of pressure vessels211, the salt concentrated solution or brine is sent back towards energyrecovery device 218 via brine concentrated pipe 217. The brine residueis usually discharged back into the seat at the end of the cycle. Theenergy from the very high water pressure used in reverse osmosis processis recaptured in energy recovery device 218, to be used for example by awater plant in order to turn a turbine and to create electricity.

In embodiment from FIG. 22, the acoustic pressure shock waves 10 areused to push salt water/industrial brine 202 (brine, sea water,industrial by-product water, etc.) through one layer of separationsemi-permeable reverse osmosis membrane 204. In this way, theconsumption of energy for creating super high pressures via highpressure pumps 214 (energy intensive) is reduced, thus avoiding thesystem drawback presented in FIG. 21. For embodiment presented in FIG.22, the osmotic pressure for desalination is provided by the combinedaction of acoustic pressure shock wave devices 34, there is no need forhigh pressure pumps 214. Also, the simplicity of semi-permeable reverseosmosis membrane 204 allows the elimination of rolled membranesincorporated in actual reverse osmosis membrane elements/cartridges 212and of high pressure resistance construction for reverse osmosismembrane elements/cartridges 212, which translates in a significant costreduction. When large parallelepipedic reverse osmotic tank 220 is used,the salt water/industrial brine 202 will be passed through one layer ofsemi-permeable reverse osmosis membrane 204, this simplifiedconstruction has major potential to reduce the reverse osmosis systemcost, in general. For this system, salt water/industrial brine 202 isintroduced inside large parallelepipedic reverse osmotic tank 220 viasalt water/industrial brine from pre-treatment inlet 213. Before gettinginside large parallelepipedic reverse osmotic tank 220, salt water 202passes through inlet saline filter 221. Once the salt water/industrialbrine 202 is inside large parallelepipedic reverse osmotic tank 220,acoustic pressure shock wave devices 34 (placed inside acoustic pressureshock wave osmotic chamber 222) create acoustic pressure shock waves 10and the necessary pressure to pass salt water/industrial brine 202through the one layer semi-permeable reverse osmosis membrane 204(requires smaller pressure for reverse osmosis when compared to reverseosmosis membrane elements/cartridges 212 presented in FIG. 21). Afterpassing through semi-permeable reverse osmosis membrane 204, desalinatedwater 215 accumulates into desalinated water chamber 223 then exitsthrough post-treatment outlet 216. An additional cleaning is done viapure water ultra-filtration filter 226 and pure water follows pure wateroutlet 225 towards pure water reservoir 227. The brine resulted from thereverse osmosis process is collected from acoustic pressure shock waveosmotic chamber 222 via concentrated brine outlet 224.

For the embodiment presented in FIG. 22, if an in-line cleaning systemwith acoustic pressure shock waves 10 is added (as the ones presented inFIG. 13A, FIG. 13B, FIG. 15A, FIG. 15B, FIG. 16, FIG. 17, FIG. 18 andFIG. 19), in order to avoid the clogging of semi-permeable osmosismembrane 204 from large parallelepipedic reverse osmotic tank 220, thenthe life of semi-permeable osmosis membrane 204 can be increased, whichcan produce significant savings in operating the reverse osmosisdesalination system.

A much larger reverse osmosis desalination array system, that usesacoustic pressure shock waves 10, is presented in FIG. 23. To producereverse osmotic filtration, acoustic pressure shock wave reverse osmoticarray 230 incorporates multiple reverse osmotic cells/units 231.Specifically, acoustic pressure shock wave reverse osmotic array 230from FIG. 23 has three reverse osmotic cells/units 231, although morethan three cells/units can be used, depending on salt concentration ofsalt water 202. The pressure necessary for reverse osmosis process isgiven by frontal acoustic pressure shock wave devices 164 that push saltwater/industrial brine 202 through one layer semi-permeable osmosismembrane 204 (requires smaller pressure for reverse osmosis whencompared to reverse osmosis membrane elements/cartridges 212 presentedin FIG. 21). Winding reverse osmosis conduit 241 moves saltwater/industrial brine 202 in a tangential/parallel flow relatively tosemi-permeable osmosis membranes 204, which are incorporated in theinterior wall of each wind of winding reverse osmosis conduit 241. Ineach reverse osmotic cell/unit 231, two semi-permeable osmosis membranes204 are used and acoustic pressure shock waves 10 are generated by a setof three or more frontal acoustic pressure shock wave devices 164. Thenumber of frontal acoustic pressure shock wave devices 164 included ineach set depends on the scale of acoustic pressure shock wave reverseosmotic array 230. The reverse osmosis process is produced by saltwater/industrial brine flow through reverse osmosis membrane 240 andpure water 206 is collected inside pure water collection chamber 233,located inside the wind of winding reverse osmosis conduit 241. For eachsemi-permeable osmosis membrane 204, acoustic pressure shock waves 10are perpendicular to semi-permeable osmosis membrane 204 and orientatedtowards pure water collection chamber 233. Pure water flow 234 from eachwater collection chamber 233 guide pure water 206 through pure watercollection pipe 235 towards pure water reservoir 227. Before enteringpure water reservoir 227, pure water 206 is further cleaned insidepost-treatment module 236. As presented for embodiments from FIG. 13B,FIG. 15B and FIG. 6, for acoustic pressure shock wave reverse osmoticarray 230, tangential/parallel acoustic pressure shock waves 10 are usedto keep unclogged the surface of semi-permeable osmosis membranes 204with salt ions. To accomplish the continuous cleaning of the surfacefacing salt water 202 of semi-permeable osmosis membranes 204,tangential acoustic pressure shock wave devices 165 are used. Acousticpressure shock waves 10 created by tangential acoustic pressure shockwave devices 165 push away the salt ions from the surface ofsemi-permeable osmosis membranes 204 and in the direction of saltwater/industrial brine flow 232, through winding reverse osmosis conduit241, or in the direction of post desalination concentrated brine flow237 through concentrated brine pipe 238 and towards concentrated brinereservoir 239. The advantages of acoustic pressure shock wave reverseosmotic array 230 presented in FIG. 23 are given by the use of lessexpensive one layer semi-permeable osmosis membranes 204, that arecontinuously cleaned (longer life before exchange), and by smallerpressures needed (generated by acoustic pressure shock waves 10) toperform the reverse osmotic process, when compared to reverse osmosismembrane elements/cartridges 212 presented in FIG. 21, which ultimatelytranslate into a more economic and a highly efficient system.

The invention presented in patent application US2007/0295673 relates toa novel desalination method and system that uses freeze crystallizationtechnology, incorporates the use of compressed air energy as the sourcefor freezing temperatures. The process is called Eutectic FreezeCrystallization Technology. When solutions are chilled below waterfreezing point (0° C. or 32° F.), the water portion of the solutionbegins to crystallize as ice, the remaining liquid becomes moreconcentrated. Agitation of the chilled solution usually accelerates icecrystal formation, thus offering a method of speeding up the entireseparation/concentration process. The ice crystals are formed in asuspension of brine solution, and require a filtration system/removalsystem, for that the ice crystals to be separated from brine, and awashing column, to wash out brine contained in between and on thesurface of small ice crystals. Principally, three forces are acting onthe ice crystals, the buoyancy force Fb, due to the ice density, whichhas to overcome the drag force Fd and gravity (mg) for the ice crystalsupward movement. Acoustic pressure shock waves can be used to add to thebuoyancy force, thus making much faster the ice upward movement(economical efficiency). Finally, after their separation from brineslush, the ice crystals are melted back into pure water. The processworks very well for extracting high-grade water from less than desirablewater sources (desalinization). Freeze desalination has severaladvantages, such as lower energy costs compared to heating technologies,potential liquid discharge, minimal corrosion and scaling, energyrecovery, low cost materials, no use of chemicals, pre-treatment notnecessary and low environmental impact. On the other hand, the freezedesalination has disadvantages, such as process complexity, impurityentrapment and long freezing cycle duration.

The idea of using acoustic pressure shock waves 10 to separate icecrystals from salt water/industrial brine 202 was developed based onintriguing results and difficulties described in patent applicationUS2007/0295673 and existing literature that present the Eutectic FreezeCrystallization Technology. Said Eutectic Freeze CrystallizationTechnology showed inefficiencies due to slow process to separate icefrom solid salt, high dependency on ice crystals size, entanglementbetween ice crystals and salt particles during separation, larger piecesof ice crystal tend to block the separator, the use of numerous movingparts and meshes into the system that can be clogged during separationprocess, etc.

Practically, the desalination processes using freezing are based onremoval of ice particles from salt water/industrial brine 202 (with ahigher density than water ice particles) due to gravity. In theembodiment from FIG. 24 and FIG. 25 it is described a process thatrelies on fast and efficient ways to separate water ice crystals fromsalt water/industrial brine 202 by using acoustic pressure shock waves10, which dramatically improves the efficiency of freezing desalinationsystems and make freezing desalination technology competitive for anindustrial scale application. Furthermore, the acoustic pressure shockwaves 10 (using acoustic streaming and cavitation jets) can help pushingout salt water/industrial brine 202 trapped in between ice crystals,which can increase even more the efficiency of freezing desalinationprocess and avoid extensive wash with fresh water of ice crystals toremove salty brine from the ice mass, as was the case with theembodiments from patent application US2007/0295673. Intermittentfunctioning of ice crystallizer with intermittent use of acousticpressure shock waves 10 after slurry is formed represents the best wayof operation.

Direct or indirect freeze processes can be applied to produce icecrystals. In a direct freezing process, the refrigerant is directlymixed with salt water/industrial brine 202. The direct freezing processis less used due to the possibility of a contamination. In an indirectfreezing process, the refrigerant/freezing agent is separated from saltwater/industrial brine 202 by a heat transfer surface. For the indirectcooling the refrigerant/freezing agent is introduced into a series ofpipes and mantles, which cools the enclosure where salt water/industrialbrine 202 resides. The materials surrounding the enclosure should havevery good heat insulation properties to be able and maintain thechilling effect inside the enclosure with minimal losses towardsenvironment. Total contact surface area is needed for indirect coolingand the coefficient of heat transfer from the pipes and mantle are thekey parameters for this process. Indirect cooling prevents contactbetween refrigerant and salt water/industrial brine 202 by using a heatexchanger surface instead. The disadvantage of a cooled wall heatexchanger is the scaling of both ice and salt crystals on heat exchangerwall. These scaling can be removed by scrapers over the surface. Besidesthe scaling removal, the scrapers also prevent scaling by creating aturbulent flow and improving heat transfer from the wall. Also, toprevent scaling of both ice and salt crystals, acoustic pressure shockwaves 10 can be used to avoid concentration of crystals on solid heatexchange surfaces and to improve heat transfer from the wall.

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) has specific benefits in use as arefrigerant/freezing agent. First of all, it is limitless available inour atmosphere. It has no ozone depletion potential and an insignificantglobal warming potential (at least in the small amounts used inrefrigeration). Furthermore, it is a cheap, non poisonous and nonflammable refrigerant. However, other refrigerants/freezing agents canbe used, such as halons, chlorofluorocarbons (CFC), perfluorocarbons(FCs), hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFC), ammonia, non-halogenatedhydrocarbons, etc.

The system from FIG. 24 and FIG. 25 uses acoustic pressure shock waves10 inside a suspension freeze concentration/crystallization chamber 244,where the freeze crystallization occurs due to refrigeration coil 246controlled by refrigeration system 245. Salt water/industrial brine 202is pumped into suspension freeze concentration/crystallization chamber244 by pump/pumping system 248, which creates a steady flow through thewhole system. Refrigeration coil 246, wrapped around suspension freezeconcentration/crystallization chamber 244, allows the cooling andfreezing of salt water/industrial brine 202. Refrigeration system 245holds the refrigeration substance and pumps it through refrigerationcoil 246 during ice forming period/freezing period. The freezing processstarts and sustains the water ice crystals formation inside suspensionfreeze concentration/crystallization chamber 244. After creation of aslush (mixture of ice crystals with concentrated brine), inside thesuspension freeze concentration/crystallization chamber 244, acousticpressure shock waves upward direction 243 produces a very efficient icecrystals movement towards the top of suspension freezeconcentration/crystallization chamber 244, thus separating the icecrystals from concentrated brine, that settles at the bottom. Icecollection pipe 247 sends the ice inside pure water collection chamber233, where it melts using heat that is collected from the refrigerationsystem 245 or is produced by a separate ice melting system/heatexchanger (for simplicity and clarity, not shown in FIG. 24 and FIG. 25,but shown later in FIG. 29, FIG. 30, FIG. 31, FIG. 34 and FIG. 35).Three different thawing methods can be employed for the separated purewater ice crystals, such as hot air (20° C.), water bath (40° C.) andmicrowave oven (700 W, 2450 MHz). The process of melting the ice withany of these methods can be combined with a membrane separation at thebottom of pure water collection chamber 233, to separate any residualsalt particles entangled in the ice crystals or attached to the icecrystals surface, which can be similar to reverse osmosis. In this case,acoustic pressure shock waves devices 34 will be arranged along thesurface of the reverse osmosis membrane, to prevent its clogging due tosalt accumulation in its pores (as presented in FIG. 13B, FIG. 15B, FIG.16 and FIG. 23). After the desalination process, heat pumps/heatexchangers can be used to warm up the ice (it can increase efficiency,thus reducing the whole cycle energy consumption). Heat pumps/heatexchangers are designed to move thermal energy opposite to the directionof spontaneous heat flow, by absorbing heat from a cold space andreleasing it to a warmer zone, thus the heat pumps/heat exchangers aredevices that provide heat energy from a source of heat to a destinationcalled a “heat sink”.

In the embodiments presented in FIG. 24 and FIG. 25, the concentratedbrine from the bottom of suspension freeze concentration/crystallizationchamber 244 is vacuum pumped into concentrated brine reservoir 239 viareturn pipe for concentrated brine 249. Concentrated brine slush fromconcentrated brine reservoirs 239 can be sent back into the system to gothrough desalination process or discarded in the ocean/environment.Concentrated brine reservoirs 239 are designed with insulated walls, tomaintain low temperatures of the concentrated brine slush during itsstorage.

The freeze desalination system presented in FIG. 24 and FIG. 25represents a small system that can be used for small quantities ofwater. This is the reason why the whole system sits on a system platform242, which makes it easier to be transported from one location toanother. However, this system is also easy to scale up and betransformed in a large system that can provide significant amounts ofdesalinated water. Of course, in the latter case, more powerful acousticpressure shock wave devices 34 will be used and also larger and multiplesuspension freeze concentration/crystallization chambers 244 will beused.

In US2007/0295673 patent application, different methods to preserveenergy and produce a more efficient heat exchange are presented. Thus,in order to prevent ice formation sticking to the crystallizationchamber walls, warm sea water is used to wrap around crystallizationchamber. Also, the sea water that needs desalination is pre-cooled tonear freezing temperatures even before it enters crystallizationchamber. Finally, waste heat from refrigerant compressors can be used toprevent ice particles from sticking to crystallization chamber. Allthese energy optimization processes can also be applied to the inventionpresented in this patent.

For the embodiment presented in FIG. 24 and FIG. 25, sensors (notspecifically shown into these figures) can be used to measure the saltconcentration of salt water/industrial brine 202 that needsdesalination, in order to economically control the chilling temperatureused to create the slush from which water crystals are separated usingacoustic pressure shock waves 10, without creating a compact ice/snowmass.

In order to expedite the freezing process for the embodiments presentedin FIG. 24 and FIG. 25, cold seeds can be used to start the freezingprocess. For this purpose, the embodiment from FIG. 26 presents chilledhollow micro-spheres 260 that can be used as cold seeds to start orexpedite the freezing processes. These chilled hollow micro-spheres 260are hollow inside their outer shell 261 a chilling freezing agent 262can be introduced. The chilled hollow micro-spheres 260 can have theirouter shell 261 be made of special materials that have very good thermalconductivity and are light weight, to facilitate their rapidchilling/freezing. Based on this particular construction, the chilledhollow micro-spheres 260 should be able to chill very fast in arefrigeration system, and then, when introduced in freezing desalinationsystems, they can rapidly start the freezing process. For example, intothe process presented in FIG. 24 and FIG. 25, chilled hollowmicro-spheres 260 can be used as a method to apply direct cooling tosalt water/industrial brine 202 and allow a rapid ice crystal formation(chilled hollow micro-spheres 260 act as the seeds of watercrystallization into ice form). After desalination, during ice meltingprocess the iced water mixtures with chilled hollow micro-spheres 260can be filtered, to separate desalinated water 215 (see FIG. 21) fromchilled hollow micro-spheres 260. In this way, chilled hollowmicro-spheres 260 can be collected and reused for the process. This canavoid the drawback of using cooling fluid that is injected directly intosalt water/industrial brine 202 to achieve direct cooling, thuseliminating the disadvantage of having refrigerant intermixed with theice, which affects the purity of desalinated water 215.

Agitation of chilled solution usually accelerates ice crystal formation,thus offering a method of speeding up the entireseparation/concentration process. From this point of view, for theembodiment presented in FIG. 24 and FIG. 25, the acoustic pressure shockwaves 10 can also be used to agitate the solution during freezingperiod, which allows a diminish of necessary time to create the icecrystals. Using acoustic pressure shock wave agitation, combined withchilled hollow micro-spheres 260 presented in FIG. 26, shouldsignificantly expedite the freezing process. For freezingcrystallization operation, acoustic pressure shock waves 10 can usedifferent energy setting (lower energy output), when compared to theenergy output necessary to separate ice crystals from concentratedbrine. For the agitation during freezing period combined with icecrystal separation necessary during freezing desalination process, theacoustic pressure shock waves 10 can be used either continuously orintermittently.

The embodiment presented in FIG. 27 and FIG. 28 shows specializedfreezing desalination cell/unit 270 that incorporate acoustic pressureshock wave devices 34. Specialized freezing desalination cell/units 270are designed in such way that allow enough residence time of saltwater/industrial brine 202 inside freezing desalination cell/unitenclosure 271 to produce a slush made of ice crystals and concentratedbrine. The freezing process is produced by an indirect refrigerationsystem 245 (not specifically shown in FIG. 27 and FIG. 28, but shown inFIG. 24 and FIG. 25). It can be seen in FIG. 27 and FIG. 28 thatrefrigeration coil 246 and refrigeration coil connectors 272 are used toconnect to the main/central refrigeration system 245.Refrigerant/freezing agent inlet 273 allows refrigerant/freezing agentto enter in wrap around refrigeration coil 246, thenrefrigerant/freezing agent exits through chilling/freezing agent outlet274. The flow speed of refrigerant/freezing agent inside refrigerationcoil 246, properties of materials used in construction of refrigerationcoil 246 and freezing desalination cell/unit enclosure 271 dictate thefreezing process efficiency and the ice formation speed. However, thesalinity of salt water/industrial brine 202 that enters freezingdesalination cell/unit enclosure 271 via salt water/industrial brineinlet 275 also has influence on the freezing process (the higher thesalt concentration, the lower the necessary freezing temperature to beaccomplished). By using a salinity sensor for salt water/industrialbrine 202 and a temperature sensor (not specifically shown in figuresthroughout this patent) inside freezing desalination cell/unit enclosure271, the freezing process can be automatically controlled via acomputer/microprocessor control system.

The acoustic pressure shock wave devices 34 from FIG. 27 and FIG. 28 arepowered by electric energy from acoustic pressure shock wave generator63, in order to produce acoustic pressure shock waves 10 insidespecialized freezing desalination cell/unit 270. During the freezingprocess, intermittent on continuously, acoustic pressure shock wavedevices 34 can be used to mix salt water/industrial brine 202 in orderto expedite the ice crystallization process. To further accelerate thefreezing process, chilled hollow micro-spheres 260 (as the onespresented in FIG. 26) can be used inside specialized freezingdesalination cell/unit 270. The acoustic pressure shock wave devices 34receive energy from acoustic pressure shock wave generator 63 to produceacoustic pressure shock waves 10 via high voltage discharge in betweenelectrodes 59 and inside clean liquid/fluid/water propagation medium 58,encompassed by the membrane 57 and acoustic pressure shock wavereflector 92. The role of acoustic pressure shock wave reflector 92 isto focus acoustic pressure shock waves inside specialized freezingdesalination cell/unit 270, to produce the separation of ice crystalsfrom concentrated brine slush 280. Acoustic pressure shock wave devices34 are kept in place and in sealed contact with freezing desalinationcell/unit enclosure 271, by connecting and sealing assembly 62. Thenumber of acoustic pressure shock wave devices 34 used with specializedfreezing desalination cell/unit 270 can vary (one, two, three or moreacoustic pressure shock wave devices 34), based on desalinationnecessities and cost/benefit of freezing desalination system.

In FIG. 27 and FIG. 28, the acoustic pressure shock waves 10 (due totheir acoustic streaming and cavitational water jets) can rapidlyseparate the ice at the top of freezing desalination cell/unit enclosure271 from concentrated brine slush 280 that accumulates at the bottom offreezing desalination cell/unit enclosure 271. The normal flow ofliquid/fluid/water through freezing desalination cell/unit enclosure 271pushes desalinated ice 281 towards desalinated ice outlet 277 andconcentrated brine slush 280 towards concentrated brine slush outlet276. The specialized freezing desalination cells/units 270 are modularin their construction and can be incorporated in modular systems/arraysystems as the ones presented in FIG. 29 and FIG. 30. Based on howspecialized freezing desalination cells/units 270 are used (asindividual cell/unit or as part of a modular systems/array systems),desalinated ice 281 goes directly to a pure water reservoir 227 or tothe next specialized freezing desalination cell/unit 270 for furtherprocessing, and concentrated brine slush 280 goes to a concentratedbrine slush reservoir 299 or to the next specialized freezingdesalination cell/unit 270 for further desalination.

The embodiment from FIG. 29 presents the use of acoustic pressure shockwaves 10 for freezing desalination in a large array of freezingdesalination cells/units 290, that has multiple specialized freezingdesalination cell/unit 270, as the ones presented in FIG. 27 and FIG.28. In this case, three specialized freezing desalination cells/units270 are used and are interconnected, each of them performs a cycle ofthe overall system desalination process (practically, this system ishaving three specialized freezing desalination cell/unit 270 thatperform three different freezing desalination cycles). These systems areused for desalination of salt water/industrial brine 202 that have ahigh concentration of salt and also for increasing system efficiency.The pre-treated (filtration, cleaning and possible chilling) saltwater/industrial brine 202 enters via salt water/industrial brine inlet275. After entering the first specialized freezing desalinationcell/unit 270, salt water/industrial brine 202 is subject to freezingcrystallization via the chilling effect provided by refrigeration coil246. For a more rapid crystallization and prevention of deposit of iceon the walls of freezing desalination cell/unit enclosure 271, acousticpressure shock waves 10 can be delivered continuously or intermittentduring crystallization process to ensure the steering of the slushsolution. Sensors (not specifically shown in FIG. 29) can be used tomonitor the freezing temperature and adjust the output of refrigerationsystem 245. After ice crystallization is accomplished (without creatingexcessive ice accumulation), acoustic pressure shock wave devices 34have their energy output adjusted/increased in order to deliverdirectional acoustic pressure shock waves 10 tuned to perform a rapidand efficient separation of the first cycle desalinated ice 291 from thefirst cycle concentrated brine slush 294. The first cycle desalinatedice 291, separated by acoustic pressure shock waves 10 at the top of thefirst specialized freezing desalination cell/unit 270, is pushed viadesalinated ice outlet 277 by the normal flow of liquid/fluid/waterthrough freezing desalination cell/unit enclosure 271 towards icemelting system/heat exchanger 298, where ice crystals are melted andtransformed in pure water 206. Pure water collection pipes 235 willguide pure water 206 collected from any of the three specializedfreezing desalination cells/units 270 towards pure water reservoir 227.On its turn, the first cycle concentrated brine slush 294 is pushed fromthe bottom (where accumulates) of the first specialized freezingdesalination cell/unit 270 through concentrated brine slush outlet 276and pipe connector 297, towards the input port of the second specializedfreezing desalination cell/unit 270 for further desalination. Goingthrough the same freeze desalination process (as described for the firstspecialized freezing desalination cell/unit 270), the second specializedfreezing desalination cell/unit 270 produces a further desalination andthe output will be the second cycle desalinated ice 292 and the secondcycle concentrated brine slush 295. Similarly, the third specializedfreezing desalination cell/unit 270 will output the third cycledesalinated ice 293 and the third cycle concentrated brine slush 296.The second cycle desalinated ice 292 and third cycle desalinated ice 293are sent through the ice melting system/heat exchanger 298, via the purewater collection pipes 235 and towards the pure water reservoir 227. Thethird cycle concentrated brine slush 296 is sent through the brineconcentrate pipe 217 towards the concentrated brine slush reservoir 299for storage or later discharge. The three freeze desalination cyclesperformed by the array of freezing desalination cells/units 290 willensure that desalination is efficient and complete.

The embodiment from FIG. 30 presents the use of acoustic pressure shockwaves 10 for freezing desalination in a large double-tier array offreezing desalination cells/units 300, that has multiple specializedfreezing desalination cell/unit 270, as the ones presented in FIG. 27and FIG. 28. Large double-tier array of freezing desalinationcells/units 300 are used for freezing desalination of highlyconcentrated brine solutions and this is the reason why it requiresmultiple cycles and tiers to achieve a proper drop in salinity. Thefirst array tier is formed by first cycle freezing desalinationcell/unit for desalinated water tier 301, second cycle freezingdesalination cell/unit for desalinated water tier 302 and third cyclefreezing desalination cell/unit for desalinated water tier 303. Thistier produces subsequent desalination of desalinated ice collected fromthe top of specialized freezing desalination cell/units 301, 302 and303. Practically, due to brine entrapped inside ice crystals or presenceof attached brine to the outer surface of crystals, the first cyclefreezing desalination cell/unit for desalinated water tier 301 cannotproduce pure water 206 and it requires additional two cycles to get topure water/drinkable water stored in pure water reservoir 227. Thesecond array tier is designed to continue desalination of brine slush280, produced by the first cycle freezing desalination cell/unit fordesalinated water tier 301. This second array tier is formed by thefirst cycle freezing desalination cell/unit for residual brine tier 304,second cycle freezing desalination cell/unit for residual brine tier305, third cycle freezing desalination cell/unit for residual brine tier306 and fourth cycle freezing desalination cell/unit for residual brinetier 307. The second tier requires four freezing desalinationcells/units due to the fact that brine gets gradually more concentratedand it requires more freezing desalination cells/units 304, 305, 306 and307 to separate as much as possible and feasible water out of brineslush 280. Concentrated brine slush 280 is collected from all fourcells/units 304, 305, 306 and 307 into concentrated brine slushreservoir 299. In this way, salt water/industrial brine 202 enters thedouble-tier array of freezing desalination cells/units 300 via saltwater/industrial brine inlet 275, gets the appropriate freezingdesalination process to obtain the best output relatively to the cost.

In FIG. 31 is presented an embodiment that uses specialized freezingdesalination ellipsoidal tanks 310 that employ acoustic pressure shockwaves 10 and full ellipsoidal tanks, similar in construction to thosepresented in FIG. 5B and FIG. 5C. The advantage of full ellipsoidaltanks is that a larger reflection area for acoustic pressure shock waves10 is available (full ellipsoid and not half ellipsoid, as for theacoustic pressure shock wave devices 34 presented throughout thispatent), which creates pressure gradients and unidirectional movement ofacoustic pressure shock waves 10 that helps with stronger acousticstreaming and cavitational jets. Each of specialized freezingdesalination ellipsoidal tanks 310 is standing on a tank base 312 thatassures its stability. In the embodiment from FIG. 31, saltwater/industrial brine 202 is introduced into desalination station viasalt water/industrial brine inlet 275. Salt water/industrial brine 202comes pretreated into the station, which includes cleaning, filtration,and partial chilling. The specialized freezing desalination ellipsoidaltanks 310 have their wall construction, to include an envelope or pipesused to circulate refrigerant/freezing agent for continuous chilling ofsalt water/industrial brine 202 to produce the freeze crystallization ofice crystals. The electrodes 59 produce acoustic shock waves 10 insidespecialized freezing desalination ellipsoidal tanks 310. Acousticpressure shock waves 10 can be used intermittently or continuously forthe crystallization period (helps with the chilling), and also for theice crystals separation (desalinated ice 281) from concentrated brineslush 280. An automated control system can regulate the flow through thefreeze desalination station and also the settings for a certain energyoutput given by acoustic pressure shock waves 10 (low energy output forthe crystallization period, and high energy output for the ice crystalsseparation period).

The freeze desalination station presented in FIG. 31 includes threeinterconnected freezing desalination ellipsoidal tanks 310. The outputfrom the first specialized freezing desalination ellipsoidal tank 310 isconnected to the input of the second specialized freezing desalinationellipsoidal tanks 310 its output is connected to the third specializedfreezing desalination ellipsoidal tanks 310, which practically describesa serial arrangement. In each specialized freezing desalinationellipsoidal tank 310, due to upwards action of acoustic pressure shockwaves 10, desalinated ice 281 accumulates at the top of specializedfreezing desalination ellipsoidal tank 310 from where desalinated ice281 is pushed or vacuumed through ice collection pipe 247 towards icemelting system/heat exchanger 298, where the ice crystals are melt in asolution (although still having low temperature). After the melting intoice melting system/heat exchanger 298, the desalinated water is filteredin filtration unit 313 and then goes through another cycle of freezingdesalination in the second specialized freezing desalination ellipsoidaltank 310 (as the arrows indicate). The desalination process iscontinuously achieved in each of the three specialized freezingdesalination ellipsoidal tanks 310 until the quality of the desalinatedwater meets the drinking water standards. Pure water is stored in purereservoir 227 and residual concentrate brine slush 280 is send via brineconcentrate pipe 217 from each specialized freezing desalinationellipsoidal tank 310 towards concentrated brine slush reservoir 299. Theflow of liquid/fluid/water through desalination station is controlled bya pumping system (not shown for simplicity and clarity in FIG. 31) and aseries of valves 311.

The desalination with combination of freezing and acoustic pressureshock waves 10 can be used for high concentrated industrial brines. Theembodiments from FIG. 24, FIG. 25, FIG. 27, FIG. 28, FIG. 29, FIG. 30and FIG. 31 can be used to lower the percentage of salt from highconcentrated industrial brines to a manageable point to allow anefficient use of existing high energetic technologies as ReversedOsmosis, Electrodialysis or Multi Stage Flash Distillation. In the caseof Multi Stage Flash Distillation the acoustic pressure shock waves 10can be used to reduce and eliminate the scale formation produced bycalcium sulfate, as presented in detail in US 2015/0337630.

For the systems presented in FIG. 24, FIG. 25, FIG. 27, FIG. 28, FIG.29, FIG. 30 and FIG. 31 in order to reduce the energy consumption forfreezing desalination of sea/ocean waters, the collection of watershould be done from locations away from the shore at deep depth, wherethe sea/ocean water is naturally cooler.

For the embodiments presented in FIG. 24, FIG. 25, FIG. 27, FIG. 28,FIG. 29, FIG. 30 and FIG. 31, in the case of industrial brine that needsto be stored before desalination process in storage tanks, theconstruction and design of such storage tanks can be done from materialsthat prevent heating-up of the brine during storage in spring, summer orfall. Also, these storage tanks for brine can be underground tanks inorder to preserve cooler temperatures than the ambient temperature ofthe air.

When acoustic pressure shock waves 10 are used together with freezingdesalination, the acoustic pressure shock waves 10 can work both upwards(push the ice to the top of the enclosure/tank faster) or downwards(push down the brine out of the ice crystals and thus the water icecrystals can float at the top). This means that for the systemspresented in FIG. 24, FIG. 25, FIG. 27, FIG. 28, FIG. 29, FIG. 30 andFIG. 31 that have the acoustic pressure shock waves 10 moving in anupward direction, can also have the acoustic pressure shock waves 34pointing downwards to create acoustic pressure shock waves 10 that aremoving in a downward direction.

High concentration salt water/industrial brine 202 when is desalinatedin embodiments presented in FIG. 24, FIG. 25, FIG. 27, FIG. 28, FIG. 29,FIG. 30, FIG. 31, the ice crystals may entrap or have salt ions attachedto their surface. To clean the ice crystals from salt the fresh water isused to wash the attached brine to the ice crystals (in dedicatedsystems that are not shown in the figures of this patent for simplicityand clarity of the figures). The washing of salt from the ice crystalsis based on the fact that fresh water freezes as it attaches to eachlayer of ice crystals and thus is displacing the very thin viscous saltybrine layer from the interstices between the ice particles. Instead ofusing this method, the acoustic pressure shock waves 10 can be used topush the brine from in between ice crystals and thus avoiding the use offresh water wash for each step of the desalination. If needed, such awash can be employed only at the last step of the desalination process.

FIG. 32 and FIG. 33 present the embodiment of a tritiated water/heavywater separation cell/unit 320 that uses acoustic pressure shock wavedevices 34 to separate tritiated water/heavy water 331 from normalwater/light water 332. The US 2005/0279129 is presenting a method toseparate heavy water from regular water by lowering the temperature ofthe mixture to the melting point of the heavy water, which is 4.49° C.Practically, a mixture of the tritiated water/heavy water and normalwater/light water 330 when chilled below 4.49° C., will allow thefrozen/solid state tritiated water/heavy water 331 to fall to the bottomof the tritiated water/heavy water separation cell/unit 320 and thenormal water/light water 332 will rise to the top. By using highlyunidirectional downward acoustic pressure shock waves 10 the separationprocess of the tritiated water/heavy water 331 from normal water/lightwater 332 can be expedited and thus make it more compelling to be usedat industrial scale.

The specialized tritiated water/heavy water separation cell/unit 320 aredesigned in such way that allow enough residence time of the mixture ofthe tritiated water/heavy water and normal water/light water 330 insidethe tritiated water/heavy water separation cell/unit enclosure 321 toproduce a slush made of normal water/light water 332 and ice crystals oftritiated water/heavy water 331. The freezing process is produced by anindirect refrigeration system 245 (not specifically shown in FIG. 32 andFIG. 33, but shown in FIG. 24 and FIG. 25). What can be seen in FIG. 32and FIG. 33 are the refrigeration coil 246 and the refrigeration coilconnectors 272 that are used to connect to the main/centralrefrigeration system 245. The refrigerant/freezing agent inlet 273allows the refrigerant/freezing agent to enter the wrap aroundrefrigeration coil 246 and the refrigerant/freezing agent exits throughthe chilling/freezing agent outlet 274. The flow speed of therefrigerant/freezing agent inside the refrigeration coil 246, propertiesof materials used in construction of the refrigeration coil 246 andtritiated water/heavy water separation cell/unit 320 dictate theefficiency of the freezing process and the speed with which the icecrystals of tritiated water/heavy water 331 develop.

The acoustic pressure shock wave devices 34 from FIG. 32 and FIG. 33 aregetting electric energy from the acoustic pressure shock wave generator63 in order to produce the acoustic pressure shock waves 10 inside thespecialized tritiated water/heavy water separation cell/unit 320. Duringthe freezing process the acoustic pressure shock wave devices 34 can beused to mix (intermittent on continuously) the mixture of the tritiatedwater/heavy water and normal water/light water 330, in order to expeditethe ice crystallization process for the tritiated water/heavy water 331.To further accelerate the freezing process chilled hollow micro-spheres260 (as the ones presented in FIG. 26) can be used inside the tritiatedwater/heavy water separation cell/unit 320. The acoustic pressure shockwave devices 34 receive energy from the acoustic pressure shock wavegenerator 63 to produce the acoustic pressure shock waves 10 via highvoltage discharge in between electrodes 59 and inside cleanliquid/fluid/water propagation medium 58, encompassed by the membrane 57and acoustic pressure shock wave reflector 92. The role of the acousticpressure shock wave reflector 92 is to focus the acoustic pressure shockwaves inside the specialized tritiated water/heavy water separationcell/unit 320 to produce the separation of ice crystals of tritiatedwater/heavy water 331 from the normal water/light water 332. Theacoustic pressure shock wave devices 34 are kept in place and in sealedcontact with the tritiated water/heavy water separation cell/unit 320 bythe connecting and sealing assembly 62. The number of acoustic pressureshock wave devices 34 used with the tritiated water/heavy waterseparation cell/unit 320 can vary (one, two, three or more acousticpressure shock wave devices 34) based on necessities and cost/benefit ofthe heavy water separation system.

In FIG. 32 and FIG. 33 the acoustic pressure shock waves 10 (due totheir downward acoustic streaming and cavitational water jets) canrapidly separate the ice produced by the tritiated water/heavy water 331at the bottom of the tritiated water/heavy water separation cell/unitenclosure 321 from the normal water/light water 332 that accumulates atthe top of the tritiated water/heavy water separation cell/unitenclosure 321. The normal flow of liquid/fluid/water through thetritiated water/heavy water and normal water/light water 330 pushes icecrystals of the tritiated water/heavy water 331 towards the frozentritiated water/heavy water outlet 323 and the normal water/light water332 towards the normal water/light water outlet 324. The specializedtritiated water/heavy water separation cells/units 320 are modular intheir construction and can be incorporated in modular systems/arraysystems as the one presented in FIG. 34. Based on how the specializedtritiated water/heavy water separation cell/unit 320 are used (asindividual cell/unit or as part of a modular systems/array systems) thenormal water/light water 332 goes directly to a normal water/light waterreservoir 347 and the ice crystals of tritiated water/heavy water 331 toa tritiated water/heavy water slush reservoir 348 or to the nexttritiated water/heavy water separation cell/unit 320 for furtherprocessing.

The embodiment from FIG. 34 presents the use of acoustic pressure shockwaves 10 for separation of tritiated water/heavy water 331 from normalwater/light water 332 in a large array of tritiated water/heavy waterseparation cell/unit 340 that has multiple specialized tritiatedwater/heavy water separation cells/units 320, as the ones presented inFIG. 32 and FIG. 33. In this case three tritiated water/heavy waterseparation cells/units 320 are used that are interconnected and each ofthem performs a cycle of the overall freezing separation process oftritiated water/heavy water 331 from normal water/light water 332 (thissystem is having practically three specialized tritiated water/heavywater separation cells/units 320 that will perform three differentfreezing separation cycles). These systems are used for separation oftritiated water/heavy water 331 from normal water/light water 332, whenthere is a high concentration of tritiated water/heavy water 331 in thesystem, and also for increasing the system efficiency. The mixture oftritiated water/heavy water and normal water/light water 330 enters viathe mixture of the tritiated water/heavy water and the normalwater/light water inlet 322. After entering the first tritiatedwater/heavy water separation cells/units 320 the mixture of tritiatedwater/heavy water and normal water/light water 330 is subject tofreezing crystallization via chilling effect provided by refrigerationcoil 246. For a more rapid crystallization and prevention of depositionof ice crystals from tritiated water/heavy water 331 on the walls oftritiated water/heavy water separation cell/unit enclosure 321, acousticpressure shock waves 10 can be delivered continuously or intermittentduring crystallization process to ensure steering of the slush solution.Sensors (not specifically shown in FIG. 29) can be used to monitor thefreezing temperature and adjust the output of refrigeration system 245.After the ice crystallization, tritiated water/heavy water 331 isaccomplished (without creating excessive ice accumulation), acousticpressure shock wave devices 34 have their energy outputadjusted/increased in order to deliver directional acoustic pressureshock waves 10 tuned to perform a rapid and efficient separation of thefirst cycle normal water/light water 341 from the first cycle tritiatedwater/heavy water ice crystals 344. The first cycle tritiatedwater/heavy water ice crystals 344 separated by acoustic pressure shockwaves 10, at the bottom of the first specialized tritiated water/heavywater separation cell/unit 320, are pushed via frozen tritiatedwater/heavy water outlet 323 by the normal flow of liquid/fluid/waterthrough tritiated water/heavy water separation cell/unit 320 towards icemelting system/heat exchanger 298, where tritiated water/heavy water 331ice crystals are melted. Then, the first cycle of tritiated water/heavywater 344 will enter the second tritiated water/heavy water separationcell/unit 320 for further processing. On its turn, the first cyclenormal water/light water 341 is pushed from the top of the firsttritiated water/heavy water separation cells/units 320 through thenormal water/light water outlet 324 and pipe connector 297 via normalwater/light water pipe 334 towards the normal water/light waterreservoir 347. Going through the same freeze separation process (asdescribed for the first tritiated water/heavy water separationcells/units 320), the second tritiated water/heavy water separationcells/units 320 produces a further freezing separation and the outputwill be the second cycle normal water/light water 342 and the secondcycle tritiated water/heavy water ice crystals 345. Similarly, the thirdtritiated water/heavy water separation cells/units 320 will output thethird cycle normal water/light water 343 and the third cycle tritiatedwater/heavy water ice crystals 346. The second cycle tritiatedwater/heavy water ice crystals 345 is sent through ice meltingsystem/heat exchanger 298 and towards the third water/heavy waterseparation cells/units 320. The third cycle tritiated water/heavy waterice crystals 346 are sent through ice melting system/heat exchanger 298via tritiated water/heavy water slush pipe 333 towards tritiatedwater/heavy water slush reservoir 348. The second cycle normalwater/light water 342 and the third cycle normal water/light water 343are sent through normal water/light water pipes 334 towards normalwater/light water reservoir 347. The three freeze separation cyclesperformed by array of tritiated water/heavy water separation cells/units340 will ensure that separation of tritiated water/heavy water 331 fromnormal water/light water 332 is efficient and complete.

In FIG. 35 is presented an embodiment that use specialized freezingseparation ellipsoidal tanks for tritiated water/heavy water 350 thatemploys acoustic pressure shock waves 10 and full ellipsoidal tankssimilar in construction to those presented in FIG. 5B and FIG. 5C. Theadvantage of the full ellipsoidal tanks is that a larger area forreflection of acoustic pressure shock waves 10 is available (fullellipsoid and not half ellipsoid as for the acoustic pressure shock wavedevices 34 presented throughout this patent), which creates pressuregradients and unidirectional movement of acoustic pressure shock waves10 that helps with stronger acoustic streaming and cavitational jets.Each of specialized freezing separation ellipsoidal tanks for tritiatedwater/heavy water 350 is standing on a tank base 312 that assures itsstability. In the embodiment from FIG. 35, the mixture of tritiatedwater/heavy water and normal water/light water 330 is introduced intothe freeze separation station via mixture of tritiated water/heavy waterand normal water/light water inlet 322. Immediately, the mixture oftritiated water/heavy water and normal water/light water 330 enterchiller 351, where most of temperature dropping occurs. However,specialized freezing separation ellipsoidal tanks for tritiatedwater/heavy water 350 can also have their wall construction to includean envelope or pipes set to circulate refrigerant/freezing agent forcontinuous chilling of mixture of tritiated water/heavy water and normalwater/light water 330, to produce the freeze crystallization of icecrystals from tritiated water/heavy water 331. Electrodes 59 generateacoustic shock waves 10 inside specialized freezing separationellipsoidal tanks for tritiated water/heavy water 350. Acoustic pressureshock waves 10 can be used intermittently or continuously for thecrystallization period (helps with chilling), and also for theseparation of tritiated water/heavy water 331 ice crystals from themixture of tritiated water/heavy water and normal water/light water 330.An automated control system can regulate the flow through the freezeseparation station, and also the settings for a particular energy outputgiven by acoustic pressure shock waves 10 (low energy output for thecrystallization period, and high energy output for the ice crystalsseparation period).

The freeze separation station presented in FIG. 35 includes threeinterconnected specialized freezing separation ellipsoidal tanks fortritiated water/heavy water 350. These freezing separation stations areused for heavily contaminated waters, where it is necessary to have morethan one cycle to process contaminated water in order to get rid oftritiated water/heavy water 331. The output from the first specializedfreezing separation ellipsoidal tank for tritiated water/heavy water 350is connected to the input of the second specialized freezing separationellipsoidal tank for tritiated water/heavy water 350, and its output isconnected to the third specialized freezing separation ellipsoidal tankfor tritiated water/heavy water 350, which practically describes aserial arrangement. Note that the output from each specialized freezingseparation ellipsoidal tank for tritiated water/heavy water 350 is donefrom the middle of the tank, from where partially decontaminated water353 is collected for further decontamination/processing. After leavingthe first specialized freezing separation ellipsoidal tank for tritiatedwater/heavy water 350, partially decontaminated water 353 goes through afiltration unit 313 and then enters chiller 351, where its temperatureis dropped for the second freezing separation cycle that takes placeinto the second specialized freezing separation ellipsoidal tank fortritiated water/heavy water 350. The same process and arrangement isrepeated for the third specialized freezing separation ellipsoidal tankfor tritiated water/heavy water 350. However, at the output from thethird specialized freezing separation ellipsoidal tank for tritiatedwater/heavy water 350, normal water/light water 332 should be found,which is filtered into filtration unit 313, then goes through aradiation level control unit 352 ensure complete decontamination oftritiated water/heavy water 331. If it passes the necessarydecontamination level, normal/regular water/light water 332 is thenstored inside the normal water/light water reservoir 347. If it does notpass the necessary decontamination level, partially decontaminated water353 is sent back via return pipe for insufficient decontaminated water354 to specialized freezing separation ellipsoidal tank for tritiatedwater/heavy water 350 for further freezing decontamination process.

In each specialized freezing separation ellipsoidal tanks for tritiatedwater/heavy water 350 due to downward action of the acoustic pressureshock waves 10, the tritiated water/heavy water 331 ice crystals fromthe mixture of tritiated water/heavy water and normal water/light water330 at the bottom of the specialized freezing separation ellipsoidaltanks for tritiated water/heavy water 350 from where the tritiatedwater/heavy water 331 ice crystals are pushed or vacuum throughtritiated water/heavy water slush pipe 333 towards the tritiatedwater/heavy water slush reservoir 348. The freezingseparation/decontamination process is continuously achieved in each ofthe three specialized freezing separation ellipsoidal tanks fortritiated water/heavy water 350 until the quality of the normalwater/light water 330 meets the standards of decontamination. The flowof the liquid/fluid/water through freezing separation/decontaminationstation is controlled by a pumping system (not shown for simplicity andclarity in FIG. 35) and a series of valves 311.

For freezing desalination systems presented in FIG. 24, FIG. 25, FIG.27, FIG. 28, FIG. 29, FIG. 30, FIG. 31, and freezing separation systemsfor tritiated water/heavy water from FIG. 32, FIG. 33, FIG. 34, and FIG.35, the acoustic pressure shock waves 10 can be used continuously orintermittent. This is dictated by the speed of creating the slurry inrespective system, which is mainly influenced by the cooling systemefficiency and the flow rate. If acoustic pressure shock waves 10 areused in an intermittent mode, then acoustic pressure shock waves 10 willstart based on a temperature sensor (not shown specific in the figures)that senses the required freezing temperature from inside the system,for a specific concentration of salt water 202/brine or of mixture oftritiated water/heavy water and regular/normal water/light water 330. Incase of salt water 202, the actual freezing temperature is dictated bythe salt concentration from the salt water 202/brine (the higher theconcentration of salt, the lower the freezing temperature will be).

Also, for the systems presented in FIG. 24, FIG. 25, FIG. 27, FIG. 28,FIG. 29, FIG. 30, FIG. 31, FIG. 32, FIG. 33, FIG. 34, and FIG. 35 someof the ice melting systems/heat exchangers 298 (involved in freezingdesalination or freezing separation systems for tritiated water/heavywater) can have means to recover heat or chilled liquids that can berecycled into the process.

The chilled hollow micro-spheres 260 presented in FIG. 26 can be used ascold seeds to start or expedite the freezing processes for any of theembodiments presented in FIG. 24, FIG. 25, FIG. 27, FIG. 28, FIG. 29,FIG. 30, FIG. 31, FIG. 32, FIG. 33, FIG. 34, and FIG. 35.

For any of the embodiments presented in FIG. 24, FIG. 25, FIG. 27, FIG.28, FIG. 29, FIG. 30, FIG. 31, FIG. 32, FIG. 33, FIG. 34, and FIG. 35the acoustic pressure shock waves 10 can also be used to agitate thesolution during freezing period, which will allow the reduction of timenecessary to create the ice crystals. Using acoustic pressure shock waveagitation combined with the chilled hollow micro-spheres 260 presentedin FIG. 26 should significantly expedite the freezing process. For theagitation during freezing period the acoustic pressure shock waves 10can be used either continuously or intermittently and at lower energysettings, when compared to the separation process of ice crystals fromthe concentrated brine solution.

For the embodiments from FIG. 24, FIG. 25, FIG. 27, FIG. 28, FIG. 29,FIG. 30, FIG. 31, FIG. 32, FIG. 33, FIG. 34, and FIG. 35 the forcesagainst the tanks/chambers/enclosures walls (suspension freezeconcentration/crystallization chamber 244 or freezing desalinationcell/unit enclosure 271 or specialized freezing desalination ellipsoidaltank 310 or tritiated water/heavy water separation cell/unit enclosure321 or specialized freezing separation ellipsoidal tank for tritiatedwater/heavy water 350) generated by the expansion of ice makes thesetanks/chambers/enclosures susceptible for ruptures due to wall stresses.Powerful acoustic pressure shock waves 10 can break the ice and detachany possible ice formation from the cooling surfaces of thetanks/chambers/enclosures where the freezing process takes place, whichreduces the risk of tanks/chambers/enclosures ruptures when acousticpressure shock waves 10 are employed into the freeze process. Thisrepresents another advantage of employing acoustic pressure shock waves10 into the freezing process used for desalination of saltwater/industrial brine 202 or separation of tritiated water/heavy water350 from normal water/light water 332.

For the embodiment presented in FIG. 24, FIG. 25, FIG. 27, FIG. 28, FIG.29, FIG. 30, FIG. 31, FIG. 32, FIG. 33, FIG. 34, and FIG. 35 sensors(not shown specifically into this figures) can be used. These sensorscan measure the liquid/fluid/water flow (inside the freezingtanks/chambers/enclosures or refrigeration pipes or mantles, the saltconcentration of salt water/industrial brine 202 that needsdesalination, the temperature inside the freezingtanks/chambers/enclosures or of the salt water/industrial brine 202 orof the refrigerant/freezing agent from inside the refrigeration pipesand mantles, the pressure produced by acoustic pressure shock waves 10to optimize the output of acoustic pressure shock wave devices 34, etc.All of these sensors are used to control economically the functioning ofthe entire system, via a centralized computer/microprocessor controlsystem.

All embodiments presented in this patent for maintenance and cleaning ofwater installations require a high longevity/functional life, whichdictate a rugged and waterproof construction, and various modalities togenerate acoustic pressure shock waves 10, while minimizing the exchangeof equipment for function or maintenance. Any of the embodimentspresented above can be used as presented or in different combinations orvariations, which is based on the complexity and characteristics of eachspecific application. This can be accomplished via the reflector'sdesign, combination of different reflectors, number of reflectors pereach device, total number of devices, etc. Of course, the dosage of theshock waves (number of shock waves, frequency and energy setting) willalso dictate the efficiency for maintenance and cleaning of waterinstallations. The described devices from the embodiments of this patentdeliver energy for different purposes based on the specific application.The best way to express the energy output for these acoustic pressureshock wave devices is through the energy flux density measured inmJ/mm². In general, these devices that generate acoustic pressure shockwaves 10 used in the embodiments of this patent should be capable ofhaving an energy output of 0.6 up to 100 mJ/mm².

When the acoustic pressure shock wave technology is used in the waterprocessing, it has some advantages as follows:

-   -   Diminishes the infrastructure (less water processing tanks and        foot imprint)    -   Reduces waste water processing time    -   Eliminates or reduces chemicals need    -   It is environmental friendly    -   Does not require movable parts, which translates in high        reliability    -   Reduces installation maintenance costs    -   Functions independently or in conjunction with existing        technologies    -   It is simple to implement and easy scalable    -   Can be mobile or fixed    -   Has low cost—uses electric energy in the order of 2 and 10        kW-hour, depending on complexity of the system    -   It is energy efficient—transforms high voltage into heat and        then in focused kinetic energy (at least 90% efficient)

While the invention has been described with reference to exemplarystructures and methods in embodiments, the invention is not intended tobe limited thereto, but to extend to modifications and improvementswithin the scope of equivalence of such claims to the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of desalinating water comprising applying acoustic pressure shock waves to a slush including brine and ice crystals and recovering water separately from the brine.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing salt water into a containment, cooling the salt water to create the slush, applying the acoustic pressure shock waves to the slush and separating the ice crystals from the brine.
 3. The method of claim 2, further comprising applying the acoustic pressure shock waves to the slush in an upward direction away from a bottom of the containment and against gravity to cause the ice crystals to move toward a top of the containment and the brine to settle at the bottom of the containment.
 4. The method of claim 3, further comprising collecting the ice crystals that move toward the top of the containment and recovering the water from melting of the collected ice crystals.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising moving ice crystals with the acoustic pressure shock waves to a water collection chamber separately from the brine.
 6. The method of claim 2, further comprising moving ice crystals with the acoustic pressure shock waves to a water collection chamber separately from the brine.
 7. The method of claim 6, further comprising cooling the salt water with hollow cold seeds and thawing collected ice crystals moved to the water collection chamber and recovering water.
 8. The method of claim 5, further comprising thawing collected ice crystals moved to the water collection chamber and recovering water.
 9. The method of claim 8 wherein the water collection chamber includes a porous membrane and further comprising applying acoustic pressure shock waves to the membrane to prevent clogging by residual salt particles as water is recovered through the membrane.
 10. The method of claim 7 wherein the water collection chamber includes a porous membrane and further comprising applying acoustic pressure shock waves to the membrane to prevent clogging by residual salt particles as water is recovered through the membrane.
 11. A water desalination system comprising a salt water conduit into a cooling containment having a top portion and a bottom portion, one or more acoustic pressure shock wave devices coupled to the cooling containment to direct shock waves away from a bottom portion and a water recovery chamber near the top of the cooling containment.
 12. The system of claim 11, further comprising a refrigeration coil coupled to the cooling containment.
 13. The system of claim 12, further comprising a heat source coupled to the water recovery chamber.
 14. The system of claim 11, further comprising a heat source coupled to the water recovery chamber.
 15. The system of claim 14, further comprising a porous membrane in the water recovery chamber and one or more acoustic shock wave devices positioned to direct shock waves to the porous membrane.
 16. The system of claim 13, further comprising a porous membrane in the water recovery chamber and one or more acoustic shock wave devices positioned to direct shock waves to the porous membrane.
 17. A water desalination system comprising: an enclosure with a top portion and bottom portion, wherein the enclosure includes a salt water inlet, a brine slurry outlet nearer the bottom portion of the enclosure and a desalinated ice outlet nearer the top portion of the enclosure; a cooling means coupled to the enclosure; and one or more acoustic pressure shock wave devices coupled to the enclosure to direct shock waves away from the bottom portion of the containment.
 18. The system of claim 17, further comprising a water collection chamber coupled to the desalinated ice outlet.
 19. The system of claim 18, further comprising a second enclosure including one or more additional shock wave devices coupled between the desalinated ice outlet and the water collection chamber.
 20. The system of claim 18, further comprising brine slush reservoir coupled to the brine-slurry outlet. 